


This Is How We Feel, Too

by TastingLatte



Series: This is How We Feel Series [2]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Adult Ciel Phantomhive, Adult Elizabeth Midford, Babies, Childbirth, F/M, Family, Friends to Lovers, Going to Hell, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-08-23 00:17:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 38,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8306542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TastingLatte/pseuds/TastingLatte
Summary: The couples of the Phantomhive Manor are finding their new normal, except love and life around the Phantomhive Manor is never normal. How can they all stay safe and maintain their relationships, with their respective lovers and the household staff? Sebastian x Mey-Rin, Baldroy x OC, Ciel x Elizabeth. Second "arc" of "This is How We Feel."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I loved writing "This is How We Feel" - my first look at how the dynamics of the Phantomhive Demon Butler and Maid could turn from their usual positions into rather... less usual positions. So this is a second part - going back to a deeper look at the changed dynamics of the Phantomhive Staff, and the members of this family. And sex. Kind of have to have some great sex. But not as like bed busting as the first one... not yet. *wink*
> 
> Since there were several couples introduced in "This is How We Feel" (even so it was all about Sebastian and Mey-Rin), this one will explore them, fluidly flowing (I hope) who is being focused on. Happy reading!

_Three Months later..._

The Phantomhive Manor was alive again. The Earl was moody, and pacing, Lady Elizabeth was flipping through fabric samples, Bard was sneaking kisses with his betrothed, and Finny was sitting next to Tanaka, talking about the new butterflies they had seen at the London Zoo indoor exhibit.

In servant quarters above Mey-Rin rocked in the chair, her baby, Glorey Alice Michealis, finishing suckling at her breast. She swept her hair over her left shoulder and reached beside her on the low table for the blanket and placed it on her now ready shoulder. Her daughter smacked her lips and came off her nipple, blinking her bright brownish eyes at Mey-Rin's gentle smile.

"You done? You certainly were hungry," Mey-Rin cooed as she righted her three month old child and placed her on her shoulder, adjusting her top as she did so. The gentle weight of her precious baby made her sigh and wish to wrap her arms around the hard fought baby. She and her lover, husband, and demon, had risked her very life to have the child that now was softly snoring on her shoulder, a small hick-up shuttering her body as Mey-Rin patted her back gently. Glorey was protected and loved by each of the Phantomhive Manor family, and she gently got up, walking the room a bit as her baby fell asleep.

"My precious women," a gentle voice said as Mey-Rin gazed at her sleeping daughter, now in her cradle. "How beautiful is this scene?"

Sebastian wrapped his arms around Mey-Rin and kissed her neck, his cheek grazing the blanket that Glorey had spit up on a bit as she burped. Mey-Rin giggled as he stood and she took the blanket from her shoulder and wiped his stained cheek. "About as messy as they come, I see."

He kissed her on the nose and made her wrinkle it. He smiled and did it again, sighing as he captured her mouth as well. He laced his fingers into hers and pulled her to the doorway, closer to their bedroom right next to their daughters. Sebastian looked at the baby in the cradle and back at his lovely eternal partner.

"My love, how are you feeling today?"

She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder as they continued where they had set up a small couch.

"Better. I am still hearing the young master and his breathing clearly. I can move quickly to Glorey's side is she starts to fuss. Or if you call me," she added, snuggling into his side. "I missed you last night."

Sebastian turned and kissed his beautiful assassin. "The Undertaker had heard a few more things about our daughter. He is glad that she is here; he has waited a long time to give the fallen around us a run for their souls. A half-demon, half-human has not been born in a few centuries, and lived. One was a few decades back, and we all waited, but he was not strong. Glorey, oh she is strong. Gets it from her mother," he added as he lifted his wife's chin and met her gaze. "Our daughter hasn't shown her power yet."

"You keep mentioning that," she said, shifting to sit up and look at her lover. "I have powers, she has powers - you have them. Our damned little family is so damned powerful," she ended in a mutter. "I almost forget what it was to be a human."

Sebastian smiled and gave a low laugh. "Ah, the affliction known as humanity - yes a horrid thing to have to be. If you dislike such things. And as we both know rather well, I don't dislike it at all."

Mey-Rin suddenly settled herself on his lap, moving quick and skillfully, trapping him on the seat, his hands having barely enough time to adjust and settle on her waist as hers wrapped around his shoulders and she gazed straight on into his eyes. "I am also happy to report I am feeling the need to undress you and slam my naked body against yours," she breathed hotly. "Quietly of course. Our baby is sleeping."

Sebastian's eyes lit up and a cool smile slide over his lips. "Of course."

And he flashed them to the bed, taking their time to strip each other and drop hot kisses on to the naked flesh as it appeared. They flipped and wrestled, if seen by a human, looking like a ball of quickly devesting clothes as they moved swiftly and quickly. Mey-Rin didn't even realize they were moving faster than she ever had, all she knew was the heat of her sex needed the heat of his cock deep in her body. And as she slammed him into the bed, her hands beside his head, she looked down into the red eyes of her lover, into the eyes of her mate, into the eyes of the man who had converted and claimed her, she felt whole as her body joined his for the first real time since she gave birth.

The time for gentle love making was not this moment as Sebastian took control and slammed himself into the now immortal body of his beloved. Her body could repair itself to a point, and her body could still take his seed, still produce a child, and could still come back to demand more. He worked his hands into her hair, and Mey-Rin panted openly, latching her legs around his back as she let his cock invade her body and deliver the very ecstasy she had been craving since the moment their touch had changed, now two years ago, in the washing room, when the bucket was not full of water.

"Look at me," he said, hissing the words even as he felt his need rise. "Look at me as I claim your body."

Her eyes slid open and he groaned deeply. He loved seeing the clear eyes, the sharp eyes that had begun to taunt and tease him long before he had acted and took her glasses off, eased her pain. He kissed her, drilling both into her body and into her eyes as he released his seed back into her body, and she greedily took both.

They finished, finished the kiss and laid tangled in each others naked bodies, his head beside hers, stealing kisses off her naked breasts, shoulders, neck, mouth. Sliding his hand up around her fuller hips, her soft mounds, and into her splayed hair. She sighed and closed her eyes, turning into his shoulder and arms as she fell into a sleep of post-sex bliss, one neither had had in the course of the past three months.

Sebastian pulled a blanket up around his sleeping lover, and crept into his daughters side room, gazing at the tiny hafling and the other part of his heart. He listened to small breaths of the child and the stillness in between. A baby who needed air like a human, and who could take breath away like a demon. He smiled; she would be beautiful with her dark hair and pale skin, brownish eyes, and full lips. She would be the most glorious gift Hell had ever produced and the most glorious gift humanity ever produced as well. A duel nature she and her mother now shared. One he himself had been carefully cultivating inside. Of course, he reminded himself as he dressed, watching the stillness of his wife, he would never be half human, only fully demonic, with the traces of feelings and emotions a human had demanded him to unleash, and in the processes gladly took and helped shape. Sebastian chuckled and kissed the forehead of the demanding woman, who had fallen - so many times and so many ways - into his life, into his heart, into his soul. He straightened and sighed; his other obligations called, and he closed the door to his Phantomhive Manor quarters, taking the servant stairs two at a time as he answered the call of the Earl Ciel Phantomhive, his real mission and reason he was walking among the humans.

"My lord?"

"Damn it, Sebastian! A bell!"

"Excuse me?"

"You need a bell. And I suspect so will Mey-Rin. And please tell me Glorey is not already crawling and needing one too," the young man said, pacing and stilling as he went on in his own private thoughts and musings.

"Glorey is three months old, all the books we have read on such matters have suggested she will progressing as a human until it is time for her to claim her demonic side. A bell will not be necessary until than. And I doubt Mey-Rin would take kindly to be told she needs to announce her presence even more; she has already proven herself quiet apt in overcoming her limited sight from her glasses." Sebastian smiled slowly now as he came to himself. "But with my love for cats, I would be honored to wear a bell, if you wish."

"Cat loving fool," the Earl muttered. "Never mind I said a thing. Is the cottage almost ready for you and your family to move back?"

The cottage Sebastian had built as a sanctuary for the stray Phantomhive cats, and then expanded as his own feelings expanded towards the maid. He had loved building the home he then wished beyond everything to fill with a child, turning Mey-Rin from a mousy maid who had fallen in love with him slowly, and demanded him to answer her feelings with his own - and he had fought hard to not do so, but eventually had to realize he was more than a hellish demon - he was a lover of humanity and the deep complexities that came with it. And so, he had decided to slowly take her, build his own feelings into a fire that consumed them to follow their hearts. And so many things had fallen around them to try to prevent them from moving forward with a relationship.

Sebastian moved his attention from the past to where the Earl was looking at him, his gaze steady and waiting. "Yes, I believe it is ready to be occupied again. The garden is not how I wish, but the inside is done. Mey-Rin and I have discussed how we wish to adjust to our new lives."

"Yes, I imagine it would be a new dynamic." The Earl settled into his chair and teepeed his fingers and rested his chin on the tips of his fingers. He looked so commanding and thoughtful, but Sebastian's quick eyes also saw the hidden feelings and worries. "Lizzie has also been thinking about a child," he said finally.

Sebastian's lips twitched; yes, it would explain many of the hushed conversations the two had during dinners. "And Mey-Rin, Glorey, and I out of the house may ease this curiosity?"

The Earl snorted. "Have you met my wife? She is about as demanding as Mey-Rin is insistent to be taking back her position as a maid. She is a mother now - and, something else." He sighed and leaned back, his hands now on the desk. "A maid who can do her job as efficiently as the butler who could consume my soul. It's been a long year as we journeyed from servants who seemed to have a tight emotional noose around our heads and hearts, to a new adventure for each of us. A new day is dawning, isn't it, Sebastian?"

"Yes, my lord, I do believe that it is."

"And I can't very well dismiss the maid and take on a new one - goodness knows who would want to come here and see the mess that is our lives."

"Baldroy has made his intentions clear to Mrs. Robin Alice."

"Oh damn," the man said and seemed to shrink into his chair. "Yes, the widowed shepardress, and a daughter?"

"Yes."

"Ah, well, we have the room and the practice to look normal."

"I am unsure why you think we must keep up appearances, my lord. The lady in question seems to be easy going enough and has fallen for the American. She also seems to be eager to help Finnian in his quest to keep the greenhouses functioning better. And I think the boy enjoys the company of the younger girl. A good amount of the time they are too busy to notice that Mey-Rin and I are rather not as human as we may appear."

"You know," the Earl said suddenly pushing to stand and leaned over the desk to close the distance between master and servant. "You talk like you are ready for this charade to be done, but then you also talk like this is what you want - a slow and delicious torture of feelings and lovers falling for one another, the generations continuing and flourishing. What if Lizzie and I have children? Will you claim their souls as well? Can Mey-Rin? Or your innocent baby? What is the depths of your humanity and your depravity, Sebastian Michaelis?"

Sebastian now leaned a bit closer and placed his gloved hands on his side of the desk and left a small gap between the two as he smiled. "As far as you wish to send me to. That I cultivate in myself is what I cultivate in you. And the soul full of fear and hate is slowly being traded for acceptance and love - those things that are as equally needed and equally as tasty. But you, my lord, will never know the true pain of the hellish fires, nor the heavenly freedom. I have paid a price to have my happiness, and you were one of my pawns I used to seal that. Your soul is rich and desired by so many, but I alone hold the contract. And as to your children, to what my beloved and child can do, the fallen have not had such in our mists since the beginning, and they were hunted and killed - ruthlessly - by each side. So as long as you are protected, you protect me as well. A mutual agreement I made to keep the balance."

The Earl blinked and Sebastian saw the slow shiver of fear, longing, and curiosity surge in that blink. "You are a true demon."

Sebastian snapped to stand tall and smiled. "Thank you, my lord. A complement like that is so rare from your lips. I hear your wife; shall I deliver tea here or in the greenhouse?"

The Earl's lips twitched and turned into a slow smirk. "Greenhouse. Full meal, no snacks. And if you can, bring the baby - Lizzie loves entertaining. I suppose we may as well get her used to the feel of a child; she will not stop pursuing me until I give her one."

"Are your bed sports satisfying?" Sebastian asked, delightful that he was able to take advantage of the young man's venturing into private affairs.

The Earl sighed and gathered a few of his papers and finally met the gaze of his demonic butler. "Lizzie seemed rather satisfied last night. And this morning. Now, go to the greenhouse. I must finish here and you must intersect the Lady Phantomhive."

"Yes, my lord."


	2. Chapter 2

Mey-Rin cradled her child in one arm and brought the sandwiches out in the other. She smiled as she saw Sebastian open the kitchen door and hold it for her. He took the sandwich carrier from her and Mey-Rin shifted Glorey so she could see the outside as the walked. Even with the heavy glasses, Mey-Rin's stride was confident and sure, using her newly formed demonic half to guide her like a unseen hand around the small cobblestone path to where her master and mistress sat surrounded by the rose bushes, sheltered from the cold winter that was chilling them to the bone as Christmas was a few days away. Glorey gave a small cry and Mey-Rin rubbed her back, kissing the small forehead before handing her to Lizzie, whose eager smile and outstretched hands were ready for children of her own.

She noted a small look cross the Earl's face as he picked up his tea and looked over at his wife. She glanced at her husband and she understood; the Earl wanted to continue his human life, and wanted to leave a child behind, when his time came. As her pregnancy had continued, Mey-Rin had found she was a bit swifter in reading the people around her, was a bit easier with her own flesh, and could see the small wisps of emotions that surrounded both humans and demons. Her husband's emotions changed when she was around - love and protection - and when he was around the Earl - protection and desire - and when he was around the other staff members - patience. Around the Earl now was a longing for something, for a future that he could pass to his own linage of Phantomhives.

"More tea?" Sebastian asked, cutting into the small conversation that was happening between Mey-Rin and Lizzie, as they cooed over Glorey. The blackness around Sebastian was something new as well, and she smiled and nodded a bit. Many times when they were around the Earl and Lady Phantomhive, their own bonds with them dissolved, and the four became very comfortable, forgetting the master and servant dynamic that was always present.

"She is so very pretty," Lizzie said, sighing as she handed Glorey back to Mey-Rin. "And all that black hair! Such a pretty wave in it." Baby Glorey was grasping the fingers that were tickling her and then let out a laugh and bounced. Lizzie laughed as well and soon once more had her in her lap. "I can not wait to have one of my own and then Glorey will have another child to play with."

"Mey-Rin, I think we best get back to the kitchen," Sebastian said, leaning down and giving her a pointed look she was able to sense even if she didn't see it. "Excuse us Earl, Lady," he said, taking Mey-Rin's hand and helping her up.

"Oh my," Mey-Rin said as her hand slipped into his and the were halfway to the Manor. "How do you deal with all of us?"

Sebastian's smile could be heard as he sighed. "With some long walks and a few trips to the seedy side of humanity to remind myself it could be worse." He paused as he opened the door to the kitchen. "And of course some long nights spent in the arms of a beautiful woman who has made me feel so much more than I thought I could."

"Honestly, who is this woman you speak of?" Mey-Rin teased and slipped her glasses off her face and kissed him. "I love you so much."

A clattering of a pot made him pull back and sigh. "My love, can we continue this after we fix tonight's dinner?"

"I'll hold you to it." She kissed him and sighed as well as the voices of Finny and Bard were once more heard. "What is that smell?"

"A rodent. A rat most likely."

"Oh, well, dear, that will be your job, I will clean the mess."

"A most effective team," Sebastian said, stepping into the kitchen and seeing Baldroy swing a broom, he sighed and took the broom before it smacked Finnian. "Please, do not swing things around without reason. Perhaps you can show me where the thing that scared you is, will be a better use of your time."

"It was huge, Mister Sebastian! Like a monster!"

"It was, it really was!" Finnian said now. "It went into the store closet! I heard it scrapping in the walls!"

Sebastian sighed, again, and met Mey-Rin's gaze. "I'll over see the clean up and get them back on track with the dinner."

And the Michaelis' parted, each taking a part of their household and calming them. Mey-Rin listened as the effective butler swiftly caught the rat and disposed of it. She worked with her fellow servants to clean the kitchen, and the tomato sauce that had ended up on the walls. Barking orders and getting them back into the kitchen and cooking. Bard was back to pouring water in the pot, and Finny was peeling the potatoes. Tanaka was bringing more tomatoes in from the garden and the store room. She heard the Earl and Lady walking back into the house above and imagined that Sebastian was swiftly tending to the duties above, so she refocused and tended to the duties below.

"Ok, so the beef," Mey-Rin said, as she and Finny worked to stuff the small pasta pods. "A nice wine will be paired with this. So, Tanaka, could you pick something that would work? Perhaps also a cooking wine - the sauce may be nicer if there was some more spice to it."

Bard cooked, Finny stuffed, Tanaka flitted around and helped tend to the pots on the stove. Mey-Rin stepped back and looked at the organized chaos, and smiled.

"Yes, it does feel good, doesn't it?" Sebastian's soft voice said from behind her. She turned and eyed him. In his arms were their baby. "When everything just works and the house hums like a well organized manner." He looked down and smiled as Glorey yawned and opened her eyes to look up at him. "Our lovely daughter is rather hungry, I think. I'll change her, and then settle you in the washroom to rest with her." He leaned down and brushed his lips by her ear. "I would like to keep her mother up all night if I can, showing her the new home I finished for her."

Mey-Rin felt the delicate shiver of desire move all around her body. "Do you have the power to speed up time?"

He kissed her lightly. "No, only run fast."

She watched him leave, watching how his tail coat moved, knowing the power of the body underneath. Glancing about the kitchen it was running smoothly and she stepped away, sure that she could sit in the washroom, her quiet sanctuary below levels, and wait. She closed her eyes and slipped off her glasses, the heavy weight freed her to think and feel a bit more of her newer side. She and Sebastian had tried hard to become pregnant, to entwine their hearts, bodies, and souls together for eternity. And when it happened, a year ago, she reminded herself and smiled, so many other wonderful things had followed. Bard was now engaged to marry the widowed woman who had asked for more grazing grounds a year before, and would gain a lovely child as well. The Earl had married Lady Elizabeth in the spring, and Mey-Rin had given birth in the fall. She sighed; the last two months of her pregnancy was wracked with worry for the pregnancy and her conversion and when the pregnancy was found out, Sebastian had been taken to Hell and tortured. She heard the soft footfalls and the door open. He came just as she was on the cusp of falling asleep.

"Your timing, like always, is spot on," she whispered as she took their child.

"I'm not very well equipped to feed our child," he said, taking a seat next to her. He watched as Mey-Rin smiled at their child and undid her top and moved it to the side. He longed for his hands to touch her tender flesh as they made love, and relished the feeling of just that morning his body once more on hers. Intimate moments had become a task and they had both took to their own needs when needed or simply took to sleeping in each others arms. But now, with the cottage once more rebuilt, they would be able to spend time away from the Manor, away from the constant sounds that both he and Mey-Rin now heard. Her eyes once more fell closed and Glorey suckled quietly, her tiny hand grasping at the breast and soon slowly fell asleep as well.

"My loves, so exhausted." He kissed them both on the forehead and grabbed a blanket and covered them, momentarily examining them and calculating if moving them to the warmth of a fireplace would be best. He rubbed his hands together instead and produced a small ball of hellish fire and delicately suspended it beside his sleeping wife and babe. Sebastian nodded; she would need her strength for later tonight and then the next day when the Phantomhives would host their Christmas ball.


	3. Chapter 3

Sebastian's hands glided over the smooth fabric of his wife's dress. He pressed his lips into the small amount of flesh vanished as he buttoned up her back. He pulled the corset a bit tighter and slid his hands wrapped around her front. He had joined her in a few workouts after Glorey was born, running in the woods, throwing and dodging knives, and seeing as she became quicker, more agile. If she was still human, still an assassin, her abilities would have given her even more an advantage then her already perfect, if not more so, eyesight.

"My dear," she said, hushed so they would not wake the baby. "Your hands are on my breasts."

"Yes, they are," he said hotly, licking her neck and tasting her skin. It was a tantalizing night they had spent, exploring anew each others bodies. And Sebastian had enjoyed the breasts and the hips, both a bit more fleshy, as she straddled his hips and looked down at him as they made love.

"I suppose I should not ask why?"

"I have missed being able to just lay them in my hands and take you when I wish."

"And now you can?"

"Mmm… I believe I can."

He had her against the wall and her dress, a lovely deep red with a white sash in the middle, was being pulled ever so slightly up as he took her mouth and plunged his tongue into her mouth. He felt the heat rise and smiled as he kissed her softer. Her body was hot and could burn with the heat of hell for longer amounts. He teased her as he drew his fingers into her and watched in deep desire as her eyes met his and she slowly smiled as her body was overwhelmed in the need he was giving her. He loved watching her splay her body under him, and yield to his touch.

"Fuck me quick," she moaned as she grabbed his jacket and pulled him even closer. "Fuck me hard."

"That foul language again. I had thought a child would cure that."

"Fuck me Sebastian or so help me, Hell can have you."

He plunged into her depths even as his pants hit the ground and he listened to the delicate creak of the wooden paneling sway as he thrusted into his wife. He grabbed her waist and slide a hand up to her breasts. His wife. An eternal woman who could bare his children. Who would love him as long as eternity existed. A woman who could have picked anyone to have set her feelings toward, but had picked him. Him, a demon who brushed her off. Him, a demon who wished to drink humanity deep and whole. Him, a demon who wished to damn himself to the useless soul and heart he had made, knitting himself into the fabric of humanity yet wasn't part of. Sebastian fucked his wife, his very soul mate. Sebastian fucked his wife, his very heart. Sebastian fucked his wife, his child's mother - and he swore as he dragged her legs apart, around him, and picked up speed, would bear more children. He loved her. Deeply and wholly. He panted into her ear even as she did the same, and they came, in unison as they also listened to the small breaths of their daughter.

"Oh gods," Mey-Rin sighed as they began the decent of the heat. "You are right, you can take me when you wish."

"Yes, my love."

Even so Mey-Rin could keep up with him as he dashed over the wide expanse of the Phantomhive Manor estate, he swung her and Glorey into his arms and relished the feel of the firmness in his arms and the way the cold air stung his face. Glorey was wrapped in a bundle, held to Mey-Rin's chest, and didn't realize that she was moving faster than her human eyes would register until she claimed her demonic half. Her soul and body was partially demon, the Undertaker had confirmed, as was Mey-Rin's, but because she was a baby, none of it presented themselves. They would have to wait for her demonic side to rise to see the extent of her powers. Sebastian smiled, he was sure the power of love would be the biggest power - her mother gave her more of herself then she realized.

"Decorations are up," Tanaka said as the Michaelis family strode in to the kitchen. "Food has been placed and the carolers are warming up in the side room. Guests should begin to arrive in thirty minutes."

"Thank you, Tanaka, as efficient as always."

"I can't imagine how we did it last year without you," Mey-Rin added as Tanaka bent and made faces at Glorey.

"With poise and a level head, Miss," he replied and held out his hands so he could take the baby. "And you did not have a beautiful young lady needing you every few minutes either."

Sebastian smiled at Mey-Rin and they shared a slow smile. No, they had spent their Christmas making the lovely young lady Tanaka was now bouncing and smiling at as she giggled and babbled. Sebastian took her wrap and hung it on the wall by the door and told her to go upstairs; her dress was not made for the kitchen.

"Is that why you insisted I wear it?" she asked smoothing his jacket after she kissed him.

"That and I want to show off my beautiful bride."

"I'm already yours, so you can leave the seductive language back at home."

"I was merely practicing in case that maid came back. However," he added as he kissed her cheek, "I think she is rather disappeared all together."

"I could always fall down if you need an excuse for me back in your arms," she whispered.

"No I don't need an excuse." He looked up the stairs and smiled. "And I think Mrs. Robin Alice and Miss Cassie Alice are arriving. I better make sure Baldroy has finished his preparations. They will be here and nothing will be done."

The couple parted with another kiss and Mey-Rin fluidly walked up the stairs and back to to the vast grand entrance she loved. Now a big tree, decorated by the staff the weeks before, stood in the middle and she walked about, presents of all shapes under and around the tree. She fished out a small box from her sash and placed it under the tree, her smile widening as she placed it next to a box with Glorey's name on it, in the Earl's unmistakable handwriting. Having a baby in the house had made all the family members even more delighted for Christmas than usual.

"Mey-Rin!" Lizzie's voice floated from the other side of the tree. Mey-Rin walked back and stood still as she watched the woman quickly take the stairs. "Oh Mey-Rin! I have some amazing news. I think Ciel will let me come to Ireland when he and Sebastian inspect the fabric companies up there. Please, please ask if you can come. It will be in the spring, and Glorey will be bigger, and maybe even she can come - take a nanny of course so you can enjoy the scenery - and we can shop and sit by the ocean and watch the waves!"

Mey-Rin took a breath for her mistress. Lizzie's excitement radiated off her and the wide smile and dancing eyes made Mey-Rin almost giggle in excitement too. "When is this trip?"

"We are going for our one year anniversary - so April. Isn't Ciel so romantic?"

"What am I being accused of now?" the Earl asked as he stepped off the stairs. Sebastian was coming after him, a hint of a smile on his lips even as Lizzie untangled her arms from Mey-Rin and walked back to her husband.

"Nothing horrible! I was telling Mey-Rin how you are taking me to Ireland for our anniversary and how you will be also looking at the fabric production there."

"Ah, well yes, that is fine to say."

Lizzie's hand flew to her mouth and her eyes went round. "Am I not to say?"

Ciel smiled and placed a hand on his wife's arm. "No, no, you can tell anyone. But it was not a trip with our staff," he added, looking at Sebastian and Mey-Rin. "It is a trip for just us."

Lizzie stilled and Mey-Rin braced herself for the obvious impact that she saw the Earl sensed must be coming as well, for he seemed to stiffen and turn a bit as Lizzie launched herself onto the Earl and wrapped her arms around his neck and squealed.

"A good thing we made him take a cruise last year," Mey-Rin said as Sebastian moved to stand beside her.  
"We had Glorey because of it."

She nodded. "And perhaps the master and mistress will have a surprise of their own for their getaway."

"Oh, a romantic, are we?"

She looked up at him under her eyelashes and gave him a knowing, sly smile. "I wouldn't mind keeping the spirits light and the gates of Hell far away," she said, shrugging. "And it's obvious that everyone loves Glorey, so why not let the Earl and Lady have their own joy?"

Sebastian silently stood and looked at the two and back at his wife slowly. "Because I am afraid that there is more coming that will try to steal that joy away."

"Well," Mey-Rin said, sliding her hand up his arm and resting it on his wide shoulder. "Let them come. We have a family that will fight for each of member. Certainly we have more on our side to keep us fighting and alive than the others."

Sebastian cupped her face and kissed her swiftly. "Nothing that comes through those doors can compare to the horrors of Hell, so yes, you are right, my love, we do have more on our side. We have humanity and a good dose of demonic resolve to spice it all up."

"May it not come to that."

There was footfalls on the wide stairs and the couple moved to open the doors, welcome their masters' guests, and fill the house with even more living, laughter, and love.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit... I am not as comfortable with giving Ciel and Lizzie some bedroom romping time. It's odd... BUT since they are married, and such, they must. So if it sounds awkward, I am sorry... I am trying to be able to invade their relationship as well as I bust into Sebmey's...

Ciel and Lizzie

Ciel felt as if he was brave when he took his wife's hand in his. He felt as if his feet could float over the floor and not stumble over his own feet, be caught in the wide skirts of Lizzie, who was looking radiant in the light blue sparkling dress. Her fair hair and skin shone against the fabric, and the light blue reminded him of the snow and ice, cold and alluring. He pulled her closer as the music was struck up and he looked down slightly into her face, so bright and open. Ciel's heart pounded and surge, and for a moment he wondered if the world was slipping away and this was what supreme love felt like.

"You going to dance, or are we standing as the music starts?"

He blinked and saw his wife, his playmate as a child, stand before him, her curls bouncing as she giggled, as she looked at him, as her hands curled around his and he moved. He moved her effortlessly around the dance floor, delighting her, delighting those friends and family who had come. As they finished their first round, the dance floor filled and he took his eyes off the beauty who had been promised to him before they could make up their own minds, and looked about. The feelings in the air were contagious and he locked eyes with his butler, who was offering a dance to his wife, and his eyes locked with his father-in-law as he twirled Lizzie's mother around, and his eyes locked with Bard who had his arm around his intended.

"My darling," Lizzie's voice broke into his thoughts. "Thank you."

"For what?"

She giggled and placed her head on his shoulder. "For entertaining me when I asked if we could host the ball. I love doing at my parents, and you were sorely missed when we could not spend the holiday together last year, but to host it in our home," she looked up and blushed. "Our home. It makes the last eight months living here really feel like this is my home. I know I am impatient and demanding, but you are so kind to let me change a few things."

"It's only a house, Lizzie. The walls are nothing but a structure. The people who live here - all of us - is what matters. And I know I do put my foot down a bit too hard on somethings, but it is also the memories of those who have lived here that have been built into these walls that echo so loudly at times."

"I do wish the tragedy of your birthday did not cause you so much grief," she said, kissing him lightly. "I know you hate when we try to celebrate it, and how hard Christmas is for you."

He nodded and held her a bit tighter. "But tomorrow, when the guests are gone, and we celebrate Christmas Eve as our first Christmas as a married couple, that will be a new tradition. A new beginning. A new start."

"And then a new year," she added as the music died down and they turned and clapped for the band who had expertly guided them through the opening dance.

He laced his fingers into hers and smiled. "And then a new year. And Lizzie, for you to know only, I did enjoy my birthday this year. Waking up and having your arms around me was the very best present of them all."

She blushed and Ciel saw she was thinking about the other parts of his birthday as well. He pulled her to the doorway and looked up. She followed his gaze and saw the mistletoe. He gathered her into his arms and pulled her into a deep lean, kissing her as she leaned back, kissing her deep and meaningfully. He smiled as he righted her and blushed to match hers as a few by the door who had seen the display clapped lightly and winked at him.

"My dear," Lizzie stammered. "I think I need to go freshen up."

Ciel watched as she disappeared down the dark hallway.

"I am very pleased to see you smile, my lord," Sebastian's smooth voice said as he turned back to the crowd.

"Is that why my cheeks hurt so damned much?" the Earl retorted. "My heart, it feels…"

"Like it will explode if you don't have her back in your arms?"

Ciel glanced over his shoulder and back at his butler. Curiously he looked at his demon and sighed. "Yes, precisely."

"Love, my dear lord, it is called love."

Ciel did not say anything more, for he felt both conflicted and content. Conflicted because his own arms wanted to also reach out and be close to his butler, and at the same time hold Lizzie close. The young Earl sighed and sat at one of the small tables reserved for the snacking of the desserts. He had hated that Sebastian had fallen for the maid, and then had also proclaimed that he would married the maid. And he had hated that Sebastian seemed happy with Mey-Rin, something he had never been able to give, or do for the demon. He had only offered his soul, and had kept his heart for himself. But as they had grown, had fought, and had striven to find the peace the child that Ciel had been so longed to have fulfill his wild dreams, his heart had been given piece by piece to the darkness that had surrounded him.

How could it not? And even now, he watched in a odd sadness as Sebastian and Mey-Rin seemed to move as one breath across the dance floor, so effortless and perfect. The darkness that now enveloped Mey-Rin, would now protect him in two parts, not just one, swallow and chew and taste and consume… Ciel shook his head and saw the blue sparkle dress of his wife between the bodies that separated him from the door, where she stood. He stood up and craned his neck to be seen above the small crowd he was standing in. He smiled; he was forever demanding to be seen and also embraced the shadows so easily. Lizzie's bright smile was a ray of sunshine as she saw him and picked her way towards him. And they sat, holding hands, sipping wine, sharing a chocolate cake piece he saw Sebastian shake his head at.

And he tried to feel brave on his own as he stood at the bottom of the steps, into the wee hours and waved farewell to his guests.


	5. Chapter 5

_Ciel and Lizzie_

Ciel laid his shirt on the the stand and turned to his butler. He took his night gown and put it on. "Are you and Mey-Rin settling in with Glorey alright, so far from us?"

"Yes, my lord. Of course it isn't as if we can't be here when you call," he added. A smile came to the demon's lips and Ciel looked at him sharply.

"Our bond is our secret, do keep your voice low," he hissed. "My moment of utter weakness has bound me to an eternity of torture in the night knowing how you are seeking my revenge for me even as I have abandoned it and sought a better way to remember my torture. To honor my parents' murder. To be the living and breathing reminder to those who wished me dead as well - that, dear Sebastian, is what I have chosen as my future. This," he yanked his eye patch off and stepped closer to Sebastian, lowering his voice to a mere whisper, "this is my sin and my burden and my string that we are bound together by. But hasn't that contract changed? Haven't we changed? Can either one of us really honor it and give up ourselves to what we once said we would do?"

Sebastian stood still and watched as the young man gave voice to how they had indeed changed. Finally he held the young man's head in his hands and looked at him. "What has been done can not be undone. No matter how much we have changed. A contract is a contract till the end is realized. We both thought, so long ago, that this contract would be quick, painless, and sure. Now, as you have eloquently put it, we have chosen a different future than the one we saw when we bound ourselves to each other. My love for humanity has been a thorn in my side, a deep and constant urge to explore all the complexities of what it means to be human. And because of you, I have found it. I have a soul so full of emotions that were unknown to me, and I have a woman who demands to bring them closer to me day by day. So, master, we will continue as we have, a slow dance to death, but we will also add a slow dance to deep love and a passionately lived life." He let go of his head and examined the room beyond them. "As for your offspring, I can promise you this: I will be a faithful servant to them as long as they wish me to be."

"A demon who would serve my children even if they do not desire evil deeds?"

"A demon who would serve as faithfully as I can, learning to be a better man who doesn't deserve the Hell he is bound for."

Ciel stepped closer and laid a hand on Sebastian's cheek and slowly blinked as if he was looking at him for the first time. "You make it hard to walk away from all the emotions you brought out in me when you say things like that, Sebastian. I love Lizzie, please don't be afraid of that, but you have been with me… for so many more depths of depravity that she would never understand. And yet our adventures will continue, and we will venture into the darkness, together."

"Of course, my lord. I promised I would not leave, and I shall not. Even as your world burst into flames and your life is consumed - I will be there to take your hand into the unknown."

"A true demon," the other muttered as he let his hand fall back to his side. "Leave, I have a beautiful wife of my own to sleep beside."

Sebastian took a step back and bowed, and left him to stand, staring at the closed door and be trapped in his own mind, his own thoughts, his own emotions that never left, despite Ciel saying they were. His butler was married, both in the Earthy sense and now in some other form once Mey-Rin became with child. His butler was bound to him and a half-human, half-demon, and had a hafling as a offspring. All the dangers they faced were new and different. Yet all the same and so familiar.

Ciel took the candle and finally walked into his bedroom, spacious and lavishly decorated. He saw the form of his bride, laying on her side, and drank in the curves of her hips, her waist, how it slopped back up to her shoulders. He moved the covers and settled beside her, blowing out the candle and waiting for his eyes to adjust to the slight moonlight filtering in. Christmas was always hard for him. His birthday was always hard. And yet, as Ciel wrapped an arm around the subtle flesh of his beloved wife, something broke and carried him into sleep.

He did indeed love Lizzie, and he did indeed love Sebastian. Sebastian had quite literally saved his body and mind, even as he damned his soul and emotions to an everlasting turmoil of doubt and darkness. He had scooped him up in the darkest time, executed his every whim and useless demand, and yet, denied him what he craved deep down - a family. Sebastian had helped remedy that as best as he could, rescuing an assassin who was assuredly dead before she had started her career to survive in Scotland and London. Her trail of bodies were loosely connected to her, until it became a tangle and she was caught. Sebastian had swiftly suggested the woman to come and help protect him; there were still many unknown enemies lurking in the shadows.

So Mey-Rin was the first to come and she was ever so grateful, pleased, and willing to protect her new master, a boy of 11 and half. She took on glasses that prevented her from seeing so sharply, questioning only once and bowing to his sure voice, and uncertain answer: "You are a changed person and this will remind you of your duality." Even as he sat for hours and looked at the scarred eye - he was a changed boy, reminded constantly of his duality.

Next came Baldroy. A war-torn, disillusioned American, drunk on the docks of London, trying to broker arms deals, and not being very successful. He had the connections in America, and was friendly enough when buyers were interested, but became heated quickly when he felt they were trying to undercut him. And Ciel and Sebastian became the perfect buyers. They needed a weapons expert to supply their army - a one woman army. They needed a weapons expert to assist in keeping the vast grounds safe - and he could live there, in exchange for helping out in the house. Did he have skills? He had rubbed his blurred eyes, his aching neck and had looked at the boy and shrugged. "I can try my hand at cooking." Even Sebastian had his doubts he would be able to focus on Ciel's quest as soon as the new cook burned the kitchen down - twice in one week.

The four revolved around the house, and soon Tanaka, the old Phantomhive butler resurfaced, and quickly joined. He had fled the house in search for help, and had come back to find creatures and people, searching the ruins. Ciel had watched Sebastian's face, not sure what the stone face would reveal about that night he was kidnapped, his parents murdered, their lives starting on a crash course with each other.

It was snowing when the underworld belched up word of experimental superhuman children near Dublin. At first Ciel had dismissed it; Ireland was another world, and had none of the seediness of London. But then a child was found, dining on flesh, snapping limbs. And Ciel and Sebastian had traveled to Dublin, had found a lab that caged children and kept them sedated and passive. Until they were unleashed as weapons. And they cleared the compound, finding bodies stacked and already waiting for the burial, all the way to one cage. A young boy sat, bright eyed and smiling. His head was shaved and blood splattered on his face. He looked at the two and for a moment Ciel feared that the child was going to attack, but Sebastian stilled him, looking at the boy before them. Ciel now faced a challenge - the boy was an innocent, and was a victim of the experiments. But he had clearly killed the doctors around him. Sebastian had quietly taken the child and had walked him out to the land above. The child was free.

They went home and Ciel watched the child, not much older than he, become fiercely protective of him. He had to tell him that Sebastian, who seemed to both fascinate and scare the child, was his protector, as Ciel was his. The boy shook his head and in the limited language he had, he made clear that he was Ciel's protector. "Finnian - that is what your name is. You're fair and strong, a strong name for a strong man." Finny, had clutched the hat he was presented and had sat for hours looking out the window, not sure how he would fit into the household. Ciel had often wondered the same as Sebastian would report the others would try to persuade him to come out, work with them, or merely join them in there own resting.

Ciel rolled over in bed, quietly slipping away from the warm body of Lizzie. He slipped his night coat on and opened the door quietly. Lighting the candle, he made his way down the long hall, and down the stairs. If someone was still up, they would be in the kitchen and surely they would make him tea. Or he could make it himself, he wasn't totally inept at making the cherished drink. He found the kitchen surprisingly empty and then smiled; of course Sebastian was at his newly built cottage, with his own family. The ex-assassin maid and the demon Head Butler - a odd love story for sure. He poured the loose leaves into a strainer and settled the kettle over the stove. Ciel gazed out the window and smiled slightly; his own love story with the man was just as odd.

The family was complete, they worked as a unit, taking down the enemies and those who simply had landed on the wrong side of information, and had stopped many more attacks, all being applauded behind closed doors by the Queen. The Watchdog was indeed doing his bit to keep the worlds balanced, even as his own was tipping out of control. For as he was sure there was nothing more to do, was nothing that could be done, Mey-Rin and Sebastian had started their strange love affair, just as he was dealing with his own emotions for the butler. Ciel closed his eyes. He loved the man - god, the thought! But he loved him for what he had done, for what he gave to him, not for who he was. He had seen Sebastian's true form - more than he would ever have wanted to. He had seen Sebastian's demonic rage focused on their enemies - they never survived. And that tempered his feelings of wanting the man to… what? Bed him? Make sport with him?

Ciel turned as the kettle let out it's first little whistle and took it off as quickly as it started and poured the water with Sebastian-like efficiency. The demon was perfect, just not perfect for him and his growing emotional needs.

And Lizzie seemed to come back, grown up, mature and beautiful. After the stunt in the tree, him making a complete fool of himself, revealing deeply secretive emotions, Ciel had let Lizzie back into his Manor, and slowly into his life, and even slower into his heart. He still had pangs of sadness, longing, when he looked at the handsome demon, his bright and hungry red eyes and dark hair and the dark suits stretched against his powerful human form. But Lizzie's subtle touch had become a craving he wanted. And he gave in, even so he would have had to make show of it anyhow, but he let his heart give in. Love - that was what it was. He loved Lizzie, he had loved his parents, he loved Sebastian and the family he had helped build with him in his dark times.

Ciel abandoned the tea and walked up the stairs, sure and ready for his lovely wife to be back in his arms. To give her the family she craved with him, even as Sebastian gave him the one he didn't know he needed. He paused as he snuffed out the candle and pushed the bedroom door open. Sebastian was already more human then demonic even in the beginning, so why were they so surprised when the butler fell into the arms of the maid, after catching her so many times?


	6. Chapter 6

_Ciel and Lizzie_

Elizabeth was glorious as she smiled and kissed him, her delicate fingers splayed on his chest, him pumping into her, her meeting each delicious stroke. Their morning ritual was beautiful and needed. Of course Ciel noted she didn't mind when he woke her with gentle and demanding kisses, stroking under her night gown, suggesting she take it off and let him bed her in the middle of the night. He had fucked her. Right and proper. And he had enjoyed it. As he did every time he laid his wife down and slipped into her and watched as she took the same shameless delight. They were married, and married couples made love. Passionately and with longing in their gazes.

"Ciel," she moaned as she arched her back and he came. There was the amazing moment of him holding her, and they panted for the next breath, capturing it and keeping it close even as they intertwined and lay in each others arms. He was at peace in the after moments of making love and Lizzie's hands found his as they turned to look at one another.

"It's snowing," Ciel said, absentmindedly stroking her curls back, a bit damp and so soft as it slipped between his fingers. "A beautiful Christmas Eve morning and snow." He leaned into his wife and kissed her deeply. "Shall we go down and pick out a present before the rest of the staff comes down?"

Lizzie rolled into his shoulder and kissed the slowly cooling skin. "Are you afraid of Sebastian coming in and finding us in a rather deliciously scandalous disarray of undress?" She dropped kisses as she rolled once more on top of him. She giggled as he tried to shove her back down, her breasts before him and her naked skin on his. "We are married, my love, and so is he. What horrible thing would he think of to see a wife loving her husband? And celebrating Christmas at that?"

"Lizzie…" he moaned, loosing the battle to even pretend he would be horrified to be found. He glanced at the door and was forced to look back at his flaxen angel as she smiled. They were mere children in some ways, going about the grand house, commanding the staff and pretending they would have a long life together. He craved the feelings as his childhood friend and now companion stroked the fires deep in him, the primal ones, the urges that he had thought were too deep to ever reach. The family he had wanted and the one he wanted to leave for the future.

Ciel found Lizzie brushing her hair and glanced back at him as they passed one another. Her hand captured him as he passed and he turned.

"My dear," she said, looking at him half from the mirror, and the other half in the eye. "Do you ever wish you had your sight in your right eye?"

He stilled and sighed. On their wedding he had begged Sebastian to cover their mark with something - anything - to shield her questions. And so he had made it to look as if his right eye was clouded, obscuring his mark, but not loosing any of his sight, for he could see past his mark, it was rather just for show. And the clouding did not loose any of the power. Sebastian had smugly made sure. He touched the naked eye, not covered at the beginning of the day, and during the nights, and smoothly lied, as he had many times, about many things. "At times. I am sure your beauty is even greater if I could see it with both my eyes."

Lizzie smiled and handed him his patch, her hand slipping into his as he lifted it. "I should think we have lost the element of surprise and will be very much waited on by the staff."

And so they left their chambers, and ventured hand in hand, Lord and Lady Phantomhive, down to the great hall, and past the beautifully trimmed tree. There were presents around the bottom and Finny was ducking around, pulling a few out shoving others in, and standing back and looking over the brightly colored boxes.

Ciel smiled remembering the first Christmas they had when the gardener had joined their family. It wasn't as grand as this, none really had, but the boy had been fascinated and moved by the small box which had his hat he wore all the time. He had cried even harder when Mey-Rin had given him the simple hair clips. Now the boy - man, Ciel reminded himself, he was after all older than he was - stilled and looked up as the couple stepped off the plush carpeted stairs and on to the naked wooden floor, their shoes echoing.

"Sir, Lady! It's Christmas Eve!"

"Isn't it so amazing?" Lizzie said, sighing happily. "I can't wait to open them. They look so pretty though."

Finny stepped back and looked at the dazzling colors. "They do, don't they?" He turned and a flash of embarrassment came across his face. "I wasn't peeking, miss! I was only making sure it looked pretty with all the colors! They all have their tags still!" He looked as if he was about to burst into tears.

Ciel moved beside the man and put his arm around the strongest in strength man of them all. "I think it looks much better because of what you did, Finnian. Come and join us in breakfast - tell the others. I want my whole family with me."

His bright eyes lit up and he hugged a bit too hard and then dashed down to the servant's below to pass on the invitation. Ceil felt the small hand of his wife slide up his arm and he turned.

"You will be a wonderfully patient father," she sighed.

"I don't know about small children; it was so long ago I was one. But ones who haven't had it easy, well," he smiled at his wife and brought her into his arms. "I know a bit about that."

"And I will do everything in my power not to have anything bad happen to our family," Lizzie said, her resolve betraying her delicate features and overtly decorated dress.

Ciel's eyes met Sebastian's who was standing beside the stairs, having silently followed them. He was a constant presence and the two communicated that they each would also do everything in their power not to have anything bad happen to their families. "Come my dear wife, we must eat."

"We did have a rather festive morning," she sighed and whispered into his ear as she reached and kissed his cheek lightly. Ciel quickly slide his eyes from the silently watchful butler; no matter what, he still wished to keep his private affairs, his marriage bed, away from the demon's touch.

"Come," he said again, kissing her and taking her hand. They walked past the tree and to the dining room, already warm with the fire and Tanaka finishing placing another setting out. Ciel seated his wife, and Sebastian came silently around to seat him and stand off to his right side, waiting for the next command, either as a simple nod or verbal.

And the couple lightly chatted about how beautiful the ball was, how the next social affair would be handled, and soon the room filled with Finny, Bard and his betrothed and to be daughter, and Mey-Rin and her daughter. And the volume and intensity of conversation increased, letting Ciel lean back of a moment and look around.

"Sebastian," he barely whispered.

"My lord?"

"Is this what you were seeking as well? Family and horrific sounds of delight?"

"In a way, yes. Humans are complex, and a demon's need is very simple, at first."

"And now? Is your need simple?"

"Is your quest as simple as you intended it to be?"

Ciel turned and looked at the man who stood stoically and stared passively around the table until finally meeting the blue eyes. "Life is not as simple as we intend it to be."

"No, my lord, it is not. But are the feelings not deliciously divine?"

Ciel looked at Mey-Rin who was making Glorey giggle and Finny laugh as well. He looked at Bard who was gazing at Robin and listened intensely as Cassie talked about how she wanted to go sledding again. Tanaka sat and sipped tea, while his wife was smiling and watching Mey-Rin and her baby.

"Love."

"Yes, my lord. Love."

"And it's a craving for my soul to have this as well? Not just the need for revenge?"

"I must confess I haven't felt the revenge in your soul for a while. Not as sharply," he added. "This longing to be someone worthy of respect, a commanding man within the world, has been a driving factor. And the sweet tone of a heart being opened is always a delicious addition."

Ciel turned and saw the dangerous glint in his butlers eyes. "Get you a soul, demon."

Their eyes met and Ciel dug deep. Despite that the demon would not tear him here, nor would he since their contract had not met its end, the feelings in that look made him recall all the ones he had placed on his butler, his constant companion, the ones he now placed on his wife, and it made him wish to be in the arms of the demon, even if it meant being taken before he was ready. He reminded himself the demon did have a soul - his. Ciel unconsciously touched his taken eye and smiled dangerously.

"Take care of that need - my Christmas gift to you."

Sebastian bowed and brought his lips close to his ear. "Tell my wife I will be back. And I shall be returning as soon as I can. Will Christmas duck be acceptable?"

"Do what you must."

Sebastian's lips curled and Ciel turned back to the table, the family before him.

"Yes, my lord."

And he straightened, walked to his wife, kissed her on the cheek and swiftly left the room. Mey-Rin turned and the master and maid shared a look of knowledge that the man who had came in with them, had left as a hungry demon, stalking a portion of the underworld that he could claim to satisfy his need. Mey-Rin smiled a bit and went back to entertaining Glorey.


	7. Chapter 7

Bard sat with his betrothed beside him in the carriage. He held the reins loosely and let the horses trod steadily and swiftly over the snow. It was Christmas Eve afternoon and they had taken one of the small carriages out to the back fields, near Robin's father's grazing land, and had let Cassie, Robin's 10 year old daughter, slide down the hills, giggling and laughing as she came trudging back up the hill, her skirts weighted down by the snow and ice, and brushing off the small flurry of snow that tickled her nose.

"Thank you, again," Robin said in her soft voice. She looked at Bard from under the bundle of blankets and smiled. "I know, I don't need to say anything."

He smiled and kissed her red, cold cheek. "You are welcome, my love."

The two had met last fall when she had come to the Phantomhive Manor, asking to use the back pasture land they had sled on, to graze her families' sheep in the springtime, to help grow her own grasses back from the overgrazing. The young master had granted her a two month period, and access to the back as they walked the animals around the fallen trees and spreading lake that had also taken part of their land during the abnormal rains of the fall. Bard had seen her and her daughter, Cassie, walking the back gardens, and had offered them a ride back to their home; it was dark and getting colder. The storms had swept through and was going to dump more rain before they would return, he had said.

And even as they were going to get the horse, the skies opened and dumped rain, soaking them all. He had hurried them into the house, sitting them next to the fireplace in the common dining area the servants used, and Mey-Rin had gotten two dresses that Robin and Cassie could use as their dresses dried. He had sat with them and peeled potatoes, shelled peas, and had shown Cassie how to peel the corn they had brought back from London's markets a few days prior.

And like so many other couples, they began a slow and steady courtship. He would meet them in the fields, bringing some food Sebastian had made the night before, or some he attempted to make. Cassie and he would play games while Robin tended to her ailing father. Bard never intended to be a father, but he had found himself falling for the girl and her mother. And soon enough he found that Robin had fallen for him as well. So many times had he gazed at the women, both with light blonde hair, almost white, and so fair that they wore large hats even in the winter at times, and wondered how and why they wanted to spend time with him.

Now, Robin warmed her hands next to his body, and she smiled as they approached the cottage of where they lived with her father. The elderly man had greeted Bard and his proposal to wed his widowed daughter, and take care of them with open arms. He was a kind man and had spent all the days he could beside the sheep and providing for his family as best as he could. Robin had cried many nights into Bard's shoulder about how he was sicker now and was slower in his work and walk. Robin looked over her shoulder and sighed.

"She is out," she whispered. She placed a kiss on his cheek and he turned and their lips brushed. "My dear, can you spare a few more hours?"

"For you and Cas? Of course. What is it?"

"My father… he has a few rugs he is trying to spin, but he is," she paused and he looked and saw the tears slipping down her cheeks. "He isn't well."

Bard let the horse trod on her own and wrapped his arms around her. He had lost his own family long before, had turned his sadness and grief into a usable thing, and had become a weapon. He had done things, so many things in the name of loss. And he had sailed to England as one of those things, distance would heal his wounded heart. And then he was found, almost on the brink of his own stupidity and brought to the Manor. He knew Robin would never do such stupid things when her father passed, but he wanted to make sure she knew his arms, his heart, and soon, his bed, was open to her.

"We are almost there," he said, taking the reins back and directing the horse into the small lane that led to the small cottage. "Let me help you down and I'll carry Cas in. She has had so much fun today."  
Robin seemed to be light in his arms as he helped her down and set her feet on the cobblestone free from the freshly fallen snow. He climbed back into the wagon and carried Cassie into the house as Robin held the door open. Inside the fire roared and there was a roast sitting in the middle of the table. Robin shook her father gently and settled beside him as Bard settled into the opposite chair, still holding the sleeping child.

"Papa," Robin said as the man woke slowly. "Who delivered the roast?"

"What? Oh…" he blinked and seemed to focus on the table and the fire before turning back to his daughter.

"A man, in black. He said he was a friend of the family - a Mister Michaelis."

Robin turned and blinked back tears. Bard had to admit he was a bit choked as well as he looked at the girl in his arms instead. Mister Sebastian, who he had hated for a long time after he had asked Mey-Rin to court him, even as Bard took her out and encouraged her to return to her former calling, helping her heal from her injured shoulder and her seemingly deep and unrequited feelings for the very Butler who then took her into his arms and made Bard drown in his feelings for the maid himself. And when they married, his own feelings tipped and he tried to persuade her he was a better match. Mister Sebastian had helped him find his way back to the human side of himself, but he was… something else, Bard was sure. Even after, he had tried to pursue the married woman and then had failed. And now, sitting a year later, a small family of his own he was grafting himself into, Mister Sebastian had supplied them with food. A family on the mercy of the Manor and the young master for land, and had provided for them comfortably in many ways. But Mister Sebastian did not have to do that.

"He is employed by the Phantomhive family," Bard said at last. "I need to go back." He laid Cassie, who was slowly waking up, on the couch he was sitting on. He crossed to Robin and her father and helped the older man stand. He smiled; someday he too would be needing help and he watched Robin and knew she would take care of him when he needed her.

"My dear, we will be there tomorrow evening, and we can spend Christmas as a family," she whispered as they kissed softly. "Papa is coming as well. Is that okay?"

"More than okay," he said. "I want nothing more than to have all my family there."

He did not feel the biting cold as the wind picked up and he drove the horse back to the shelter of the Manor.


	8. Chapter 8

The fire was roaring when Bard got down to the kitchen. Mey-Rin was already busy chopping some bread and placed a finger over her lips, glancing down near the door. Glorey slept and looked rather angelic. He glanced between her and the baby and smiled. He was committed to Robin and Cassie, had bought a beautiful ring, had even asked Finny if he would help find a place to hold the wedding. Of course the past year had ups and downs - the young master got married, Mey-Rin and Sebastian announced they were pregnant, and then Sebastian disappeared unexpectedly for two months, returning in time for the birth of Glorey. But as he stood in the doorway, looking at how Mey-Rin moved, and at the small baby beside him, he could not push the dream of them being together fully aside.

"A schilling for your thoughts?" a light Scottish accent floated into his thoughts. He turned and saw Mey-Rin, leaning against the other door frame, her glasses pinched and dangling between her fingers. She smiled a bit as he refocused. "You were lost there for a moment."

"Yes, I … I was thinking. About family," he said finally. He lightly stroked Glorey's bassinet and smiled a bit. "I never thought about having a family of my own. Robin wouldn't mind having another one. She has said a few times how she wished Cassie had a sibling."

"Sebastian has mentioned the same thing with Glorey," she said smiling down at her baby. "One event at a time."

"I hear Finny," Bard said and turned as the door above opened and down came the gardener. "I am surprised he isn't hauling boxes down here." He looked back at Mey-Rin and couldn't help but note the swell of her hips and breasts. He was committed to Robin, but there was still an intense longing for the maid. Finny bounded in and stopped as soon as he saw Glorey's bassinet and he placed a hand over his mouth.

"I didn't mean to be so loud."

Mey-Rin smiled. "You weren't. And she can sleep pretty well through many things."

"Ah good, everyone is here," Sebastian's voice said from behind Bard. He jumped and bumped into Finny who was still looking at the baby. "Christmas is different this year. I have pastries in the ice box, and there needs to be oranges squeezed. Bard - pastries. Finny - oranges. Mey-Rin," he added, as if he just now noticed her, "I need you to set the table. The master and lady are getting up. Tanaka is tending to the drinks and setting up the front room for presents."

"Yes sir!" the three of them said, quietly, because they didn't want Glorey to wake. The baby was an angel, Bard mused as he went to the cold room, but she also had a set of lungs on her. He paused as he opened the ice box. Would he indeed be ready to become a father if Robin became pregnant? He turned and wished he could have her there, with him now. He wanted to place his lips on hers. He sighed; they would wait to come tonight and he had already set two lovely rooms aside for his new family. He wanted to talk to Robin about moving the wedding to sooner than later, especially if her father's health was ailing.

He walked up to the main floor and laid the pastries out on the table, wishing again he was a better cook. He frowned; he was decent, he just had no patience.

"When is Mrs and Miss Alice arriving?"

Bard turned and saw Sebastian placing a bouquet of flowers on the table. "Late this afternoon."

"So you will be joining us for the evening meal?"

"Ah, well… I suppose. I hadn't thought of that."

Sebastian's eye brows went up. "You have already declared your intention to wed her, so why would you not have thought of other things as well?"

"I am having them spend the night."

Bard and Sebastian both seemed to still at the same time as they looked at each other.

"I am not… well… planning on spending the evening with Robin in an… intimate way."

"You deserve to be happy. And is she going to say no?"

Bard blushed. "I don't think so."

"So take her into your arms, and have a nice night - Mey-Rin and I can take care of Cassie if needed."

Bard simply nodded and figured they had already crossed a line of familiarity and blundered ahead. "Mey-Rin mentioned you want another child."

Sebastian regarded him for a moment. "The young master lost a family and I have tied to build one for him. I myself do not have such a background, yet I have found that I have gotten one as well. Quiet by accident, mind you. Glorey is… special. And I would love for her to have another sibling that is as special so they can share the bond only they would understand." He turned and looked at Bard sideways. "Such as my relationship with Mey-Rin is unique in it's beginnings and is wholly unlike any that someone else would experience. Each relationship is different. And we wish to continue to grow that bond as well as our own family. After all, if you were in my position, would you not want more children with Mey-Rin?"

Before he could stop, Bard nodded. "She is beautiful and unique."

"That she is," Sebastian simply said and turned and walked out of the room.

Bard shook his head and walked out of the dining room as the master and his wife came down the stairs. He watched them and smiled a bit. Sebastian and Mey-Rin were happy, the master and Lizzie were happy, and soon he and Robin would also be happy. He moved past them and imagined what Robin would say when he asked her to his bed. He bit his lip; he had a need for her now that Sebastian had confirmed that he asking to bed her would not be improper. He smiled as he went into the sitting room, the presents laid out and ready for after the meal. No one in this house did anything properly.


	9. Chapter 9

Mey-Rin's skirts were back around her waist and he was sliding his cock deep into her. It was perfect. And the fact that they were fucking again on the long hall table that he had first entered her on, was the undoing she needed. Mey-Rin was happily taking her husband as deeply as he gave her himself. Glorey was being taken care of by the master and Lizzie, and she was sure Tanaka as well. The old butler had raised three generations, and had seen two generations of Phantohives be born, and now was entertaining the servant's child.

"Look at me," Sebastian said, a hard edge to his voice. Her eyes snapped open, her body overcoming with need at the tone he used.

"Are you going to haul me to our room and give me a lesson if I didn't?"

He groaned and slammed into her body once more. "No, I will simply strip you here and keep fucking you until all the staff comes looking for you."

"A rather public lesson," she mused and pulled him down to kiss her as she neared her climax. "Fuck," she whispered as she bit her lip and came. Sebastian held her body and continued to take her body until he to came.

"You wanting all our children to be Christmas babies?"

"It would make remembering when their birthdays a bit easier," he said, matching her playful tone. "But on a serious level, it took us a long time to conceive Glorey, and now that you are half human and half demon, it could be as equally hard."

She slide her hands up his powerful arms and smiled. "Or not."

He groaned and backed out of his wife, kneeling and licking her clean, as he had done the first time as well, and had become a regular habit for them when they were taking pleasure in the house. Mey-Rin slipped to her knees when he was done and treated him to the same. "Demons are both made from the pits of Hell and are born. We could have another baby like Glorey - her human part is strong, but she may have demonic abilities that will present themselves as she grows. Or, we could have a demon."

Mey-Rin smoothed her skirts and kissed her husband as he redid his suit. "So do you want another child?"

"Yes," he breathed as he took her into his arms. "You are a perfect woman to have children with, and our love will guide them into the right direction, despite their father being a rather good demon."

She giggled and clung to his labels. "Well their mother is a rather good assassin, so I am not sure how well they will fair."

"Mmm. But the trying part of having a baby," he whispered back into her ear. "I miss having you near me and naked, or clothed. I just wish we could have a few weeks to ourselves."

"Already wanting to run away again?"

"Only with you."

The couple shared more kisses as they slowly walked back to the main part of the Manor. They had spent the previous nights adjusting to Mey-Rin's demonic thirsts for his cock after they had finally had sex since Glorey was born. Their small sucking and sexual teases were not enough to draw out Mey-Rin's rather delightful need that was able to answer Sebastian's powerful calling. They had twice almost missed rushing out of the house fully clothed because they were so busy fucking around the newly built and finished cottage.

"Are all the presents already opened?" she asked as they entered into the sitting room, boxes and paper scattered around. "It looks like a disaster of pink and gold."

Sebastian chuckled and laid a bright sapphire on her neck, kissing her as she gasped and looked down. He did the clasp and kissed her neck delicately. "Now they all are."

She turned and smiled. "No, one more." She walked to the small pile of Glorey's presents. She had hidden the small box under some of them. She found it and turned and placed the box in his hand, smiling at her husband and father of her child.

He opened it and blinked. "Mey-Rin," he sighed as he pulled the gold watch from the case. His fingers brushed over it and he smiled; the Phantomhive Family Crest, like the one he wore on his label to designate his position in the house, was engraved on it.

"Open it," she said, pressing in closer. He glanced down and watched how the necklace danced over the top of her slight cleavage showing. He must have not picked up all her clothing when they came back from their quick love making session.

He opened it and glanced back at her eager eyes. Inside was a small portrait collection of them on their wedding day, and them holding Glorey. "My love," he muttered and leaned down and kissed her soundly. "If the young master was not calling, I would lock the doors and revisit upstairs." He kissed her again, "and last night."

"Mmm… go quick otherwise you will not be able to."

And so Mey-Rin was left in the room, her husband leaving her side quickly and go to their master's side. She heard Lizzie cooing over Glorey and Bard and Finny doing the dishes below. She smiled; her demonic abilities always was a bit more after the glorious loving she and Sebastian would be bathing in more regularly again. So she took to the roof, climbing up the servant stairs, having added them to their post baby workouts as well as a regular eye on their grounds. Sebastian had insisted she not think of the Manor as hers alone to protect - they each had a different job, and hers was to keep the home safe and clean. His was to protect the master, and all that he commanded - including the staff. He was, after all, a demon. She had laughed and dodged a knife he threw at her to demonstrate his point. She had caught it and sent it sailing back. Glorey's cries had stopped them from going further than kissing; at that point she was only a few weeks old anyway and very needy.

Now, Mey-Rin looked around, seeing her obstacle course below from the roof that she had used for a few months even when she was pregnant. She saw the tracks in the snow of Finny and Bard as they walked to the greenhouse or the outside ice storage. She watched the snow fall slightly as the trees swayed, knowing one of them had her blood stained onto it, after being speared. She touched her healed shoulder slightly; Sebastian's blood had taken all the pain and fully healed her. Having Glorey had made her body even stronger; she was half demon now and could keep up with Sebastian in many ways.

The wind wiped over her as she stood looking at her armory and felt her skirts cling to her legs. She was cold. Turning she found Sebastian striding towards her and she smiled. He always knew where to find her. But something was different about how his lips were set and how his eyes seemed to not quite meet hers.

"Sebastian?" she asked even as he continued to walk towards her, picking her up like she was nothing and walking her quickly to the edge of the roof. "SEBASTIAN!"

And then she was falling.

Into nothing.

The wind rushing.

The ground rushing.

And then silence.


	10. Chapter 10

He held his beautiful woman to his side as they drove to the Manor. He had been out most of the afternoon, preparing for a feast, and having to run into the village to buy supplies, which were in the back, in baskets, next to where Cassie and Robin's father sat. He had waved Bard off when Bard insisted that he sit in the front with him, and Robin sit with Cassie.

"I am able to be fine in the back. A woman should not be sitting in the back," he had said. "Show off your to-be, not me."

So they started toward the Manor, the snow falling and Cassie excitedly talking about how she would be so proper for the Earl and would twirl in her new dress Bard had brought for her. Bard and Robin laughed as Robin's father tried to calm the child. Bard tried to remember when he was a bouncing child, so excited about things such as Christmas and gifts, sledding and trees. Suddenly Finny darted into the road ahead and Bard pulled back on the reigns, stopping the horse as quickly as possible, he had to trod into the embankment to avoid hitting the boy.

"Oi!" Bard shouted. He stood up and was going to lay into the gardener when he saw that the boy's arms were cover in blood. "Damn," he swore and glanced over at Robin who was shuffling to move out of his way even without thinking. "Finny," he said, seeing the glassy look come across the boy. "Get back to the cottage!" he yelled at Robin and turned and added, "I assume you know how to drive?"

"Yes, of course. Go!"

And Bard looked at the woman who he more then ever wanted to hold in his arms. He almost told her to go to the Manor, but the way the blood was stained, Bard knew it was not fresh on Finny's sleeves.

"Go," he said again even as he and Finny ran toward the Manor. The snow had been pushed to the side, and Bard was sure it was from Finny using his unusual strength to shove through the heavy powder. The was no time to ask and Bard went through all the worst case scenarios he could think of. Most they had already dealt with.

As they rounded a corner, he saw the Manor, his home, and it was standing, no smoke, no yelling, eerily calm. Bard grabbed at the young man's jacket and pulled him. "Finny! Finny! Slow down. What happened?"

"I was picking up the fallen branches that had blown into the yard, it was making the place look unkempt, and with your betrothed coming, I didn't want a bad impression. Not on Christmas. And she was laying in the twigs, just laying there."

"Who Finny - oh no! She? Not the Lady Elizabeth!"

"No, Mey-Rin."

Suddenly him watching her that very morning, him thinking about her in unsavory ways made him blush and feel as if he could have prevented any of this. Of course he also knew that none of this was his fault and he nodded to Finny and they continued to run around the Manor, to the side entrance. He heard the master calling for more water and looked at him when Bard and Finny came around the corner.

"We need you to take Elizabeth and Glorey to the cottage or to your ladies' house, if possible. I need them safe," Ceil said, handing Finny the pot of water and pointing back to the stairs. Bard blinked and looked around.

"But I am better here."

The master gripped his shoulders and pushed him back to a corner. "Baldroy, you know there are things in this house we can't talk about. Won't talk about. Lizzie doesn't know about them either. You understand? Lizzie doesn't know… any of this. We are a family of wounded people and half-shelled lives. We each have a secret that those around us, those we love the most, can't ever know." He took in a breath and pulled back. "I am going to tend to the Manor, you need to tend to the women. They are being readied by Sebastian; meet him in front of the carriage house. Bard," he added. "She is fine, she will be fine."

Bard nodded and raced back to the carriage house, where he had left several hours before on his own errands. Now he was rearranging his mind to be the protector he was not able to be so many years in the past now. And now, he had a family to protect, and so many members as they continued to come into his life.

"Bard," Sebastian said as he came into the carriage house. "The young master -"

"Yes, told me. Go to your wife, I will tend to your daughter and the Lady Elizabeth."

Sebastian nodded and seemed to be suddenly grateful for him to be there. He left and Bard finished placing the horses together. It was a fine, lightweight carriage, built for speed. He peered into the box and Lady Elizabeth's teary eyes nodded. He mounted and they set off, away from the Manor, from the home, from whatever was inside, and Bard squared his shoulders as they raced down the lane he had been coming down. This Christmas he would be spending with his intended and soon to be daughter, Lady Elizabeth and Glorey, and his to be father-in-aw, protecting each one of them from the evil that the Phantomhive name and Manor surely brought.


	11. Chapter 11

She was asleep, a bandage around her head. Her hands were wrapped as well, and Sebastian sat gingerly beside his broken wife, he watched her and grew concerned. She was half immortal, half mortal. She had given some mortality away to become his. To become part demon, part Hell, and still part human. His angel had fallen a bit for him. She should be healing, but he found himself itching to open a vein and feed her.

"My dear, please, heal yourself. Use the depths of Hell fire to heal. Or wake and I can feed you my part of Hell," he whispered.

"She fell from the roof - there are footmarks all the way to the roof. But only one pair," Ciel said, standing beside Sebastian and looked down at the maid. "She should be dead."

"But she isn't," Sebastian whispered.

"Whatever you are thinking -"

"Would you not do the same, if Lady Elizabeth needed it?" he hissed and looked at the young master. "You are selfish - you sell your soul to save your self, you beg for me to use tricks to conceal the mark between us, you abandon your revenge and embrace love. And this one thing I could possibly do may save her."

"Or kill you."

Sebastian looked down at his wife and sighed. "Or kill me."

Ciel placed a hand on his butler and leaned close. "She was hurt once before, and I am venturing that it made you grow close to her. Use that closeness, those emotions to ground yourself, not fly to the depths of Hell. You barely made it out the last time. And so soon you think they will let you darken their doors and let you back out? Your daughter is a creature even the Undertaker is a bit fearful of. My maid is no longer human. Sebastian - please, listen to me. There was something - someone - else up on that roof. Start there. You are a demon, but you don't belong to the depths of Hell as you once did."

Sebastian let the weight of his young masters words seep into him. He finally lifted his hand away from his wife, smoothing her hair away from her bruised cheek and laid a kiss on her lips. "Show me where this creature was."

Finny was standing beside the door to the roof and moved when he saw the young master and Sebastian coming up the stairs. "Tanaka and I made sure to cover the footprints."

Sebastian nodded and thanked the boy. He turned and looked at the stains on his shirt. "You can go and change now. We will call you when we need you again."

"No, Mister Sebastian. Mey-Rin is my friend and someone hurt her real bad. I will kill them for that. I shall sit by her side until you return to do the job, Mister Sebastian. And I will not move a muscle until you are back."

Sebastian nodded again and sent the boy to stand vigil, as Bard had over a year and half ago. There was a moment when Sebastian, wrapping his coat closer to himself, despite not caring if it was cold or not, that he almost wished for the fiercely jealous man to be guarding his wife as well. But he was guarding two other women who were as equally precious to the Phantomhive Manor and he trudged on, looking at the black blankets that were slowly being covered with snow.

"Young master, you should go inside."

"No."

He didn't push the issue and instead knelt down beside the blanket and lifted it. Under were two foot marks, and as he wrenched the blanket away, he saw it continued toward the roof. Mey-Rin would have been inspecting the weapons, something she did regularly even when she was pregnant. She would spend less time then normal, and he would usually trail after his ex-assassin and watch as her quick eyes and quick hands adjusted and checked things. He walked to the small blue box sitting in the snow, near the trigger button for the rapid firing of the guns, and fished out the common key that opened everything in the Phantomhive Manor and surrounding buildings. He pulled out a slip of paper from the box and opened it.

"Young master," he said, handing it to the man who hurried beside him. "This is not an accident."

Ciel pursed his lips and looked up at the man. "Well, gather your finest, into the mouth of Hell we go."

"No, you will not go."

"Yes, I will."

The two stood and stared at one another. There was the defiance etched into each ones face and the steady resolve that Sebastian knew too well. It was the same one Mey-Rin had when she had asked him to stay in her room. It was the same one that she had when she told him she wanted to thank him. Push him to feel. Ground him to stay. And now the feelings flashed in his young masters eyes.

"Your soul is a desired commodity."

"And you bought my protection form others with a piece of your soul. The one you have been knitting together over the years."

"Yes, but I wish not to have to revisit my contract. For you, or the one I made to protect us."

Ceil stepped up and shook the paper in his face. "Someone doesn't give a damn about that contract," he shoved it into his butlers chest and turned. "I must prepare for my departure as well. Maybe change into something less for the cold I assume."

Sebastian let out a huff and closed his eyes. The tug and sting made him grimace. "Yes, my lord."

As his young master sat at his desk, drafting a letter that should never be given to Lizzie, he went back to his wife's room, the same one she had been in when she was wounded in her shoulder, and sat beside her again. He waited to hear Finny in the kitchen and kissed his wife and let his demonic side loose. He curled around her, deep into her being, and saw the tiny blemish of her soul, the one she gave to him.

"My love, you will wake, and we will have our love be the one to destroy the gates and those who wish to tear us apart."

He gathered himself together, perfectly and normally. And picked up his wife's broken body and walked down the stairs to the young masters study. Waiting, like an army, was Ciel, Finny, and Bard. He blinked and tried not to be angry at the three men.

"Let me explain, Mister Sebastian," Bard said. "I made sure that the women are safe. Not a single thing, no nothing, will be getting them and they will be okay as we go and… do what we have to do."

"I will not send away those who can assist us in bringing back Mey-Rin and protecting our family - all of them," Sebastian said. "I hope you brought the carriage back?"

"Yes, sir."

"Ready it and we all will go to London. We must talk to the Undertaker."

Ciel turned to Tanaka who was standing silently by. "If something happens to me. I don't return, please, give this to Lady Elizabeth."

"Very good, sir," the old butler said and silently watched as the Phantomhive staff, and Earl, filed out and sat in the carriage, Bard at the reigns and the brown horses seeming to understand the urgency, launched them towards London as fast as the eight hooves could manage.


	12. Chapter 12

The Undertaker looked at the sudden crowd. He eyed at how Sebastian was cradling Mey-Rin, a half-human, half-demon and was severely injured.

"She should have awoken by now," he muttered as he walked over to her. "Was she marked?"

Sebastian nodded. "Her heart."

"Oh dear. The fallen are trying to take her or the babe. Is the child...?"

"Not with us," Ciel said, stepping forward. "Mey-Rin was the only one injured."

"Any witnesses?"

"No," Sebastian snarled. "But I know who. He was the one who had me the last time."

"A rather nasty time, if memory serves," the Undertaker muttered. "And you wish me to get you back there?"

Sebastian looked down at his wife and nodded. "Her heart is mine, and I can not abide a blemish. Not from _him._ "

"I wonder how he got so close to touch her," the man muttered as he gingerly looked at her wounds. "A nasty fall?"

"From the roof, sir. Four stories," Finny said, standing behind Bard slightly. "I found her."

"Good that you did. If she had been there any longer," he glanced at the demon and sighed. "Well, we shall not dwell on that. So what payment will you be using today, Sebastian?"

The crowd of Phantomhive Staff shuffled outside and waited. Ciel wrung his gloves and Finny paced. Bard simply lit another cigarette and let the smoke curl into the air, hardly putting it in his mouth. Finally, as the bell for the Christmas service toll, the Undertaker's door opened and they filed back in. Mey-Rin was on a table, a blanket over her, and her head propped up. Sebastian was sitting next to her and looked up with weary eyes at the staff.

"Only the young master will go with me. The rest of you, must stay here and watch Mey-Rin. If she… wakes, she may say things. Please understand it is her sickness that the young master and I are going to get the cure."

"Interesting way to put it, Sebastian," the Undertaker said. "I shall look after them. Now, please, before our window and our friend decides to up the cost."

"What did you do, Sebastian," Ciel hissed as they passed the Undertaker and walked to the back room. "What price did you pay?"

"One my wife would be willing to pay as well: Glorey's demon half. So she will be fully human. If Mey-Rin was in my position, and it was I who was there laying on the table, would you not sell your very humanity to keep me?" Sebastian smiled a bit and shook his head. "No, but for Lady Elizabeth - your child? Yes. And Mey-Rin would rip her demon-half out for me and live her life till she died as a mortal to protect me. Love, young master, love is what we keep and rip out what we hate."

"Michaelis," a voice said in the darkness. "I am your escort to Hell, please, come."

Sebastian rested a hand on the Earl and turned to him. "You are about to venture into Hell, my lord. And I will hold your hand through it all. They can not touch you, although you are the finest caramel on the Christmas cake, as it were."

"And I am here because?" Ciel asked, eyeing the creature as they passed through a dark door.

"Because you got me out of Hell twice. And you insisted you would come along."

"If you gave over your daughter's half soul, why are we here?"

The creature squeezed past them as they walked down a winding and crooked staircase. Sebastian eyed the creature as it eyed him. He knew it was aware of who he was, what he was, and what he could do. Sebastian sneered at the damned soul and it coward, almost falling down a stair. "To deliver it."

"But isn't it in her?"

"No, I have her demon half," Sebastian said as he straightened his back a bit. He let himself go a bit as a few demons gathered around the base of the stairs. "She would have gained possession of it when she turned 10, but now," he shrugged. "I will protect her and all of you with it."

Ciel walked beside him and tried not to look around to much. It was dark and noisy. The screams of the damned souls were reaching into him and he found himself pressing partially into his demon butler. Sebastian was glad he was not striding into Hell in his normal garb, or lack there of; there were boundaries and if the young master had any strong and lingering feelings towards him, it would make the resistance of them harder.

He gripped his souls hand and Sebastian felt as if he was grounded even in the one place he would never go alone again. His master was with him. His wife was not able to call for him. He had to go alone - but not alone. Sebastian opened his left hand and gently worked his glove off, taking it off with his teeth. He spat it on the ground as they walked, staring into the darkness, feeling his eyes on him. He let go of his master, and undid the patch strings, undoing his illusion on his right eye and nodding a bit as Ciel sucked in a deep breath and tried not to flinch. Sulphur. It was the demon's smell. And it stung even Sebastian's lungs.

"My lord, we will walk this as one," he said as he lifted his master into his arms as he used to when Ciel was younger, smaller. He weighted nothing then, and nothing now, despite it looking as if he was carrying a grown man on his right side. Ciel gripped him, familiar and safe.

Sebastian let his demonic body appear more now, and his wings unfolded as he walked, his contract on his hand lighting up and Ciel's eye glowing in the darkness. Hell was not a nice place for damned souls, and Ciel's soul was damned. Hell was not a nice place for an outcasted demon, and Sebastian was very much an outcast.

"You want to keep your life, I see," a booming voice said, surrounding them. "And you bring your master with you. A tighter leash this one. And still a dog," the voice added, kicking Sebastian in the knees, making him falter a step, but not fall. "Strong as an ox. Good. I hope your half demon soul is as hearty. I do like crushing babies," it hissed into Sebastian's ear.

"Left your mark from my wife's heart."

"And if I don't?"

"We made a deal."

"I am the Father of Lies, Michaelis. So quick to forget _your true master_?"

"A deal is a soul. And you want souls."

"I want good souls. Not ones that perhaps will be."

"Sebastian," Ciel whispered.

"No, my lord, I will not entertain such a thought. Please, rest and do not be afraid."

"But perhaps he is correct," the voice said, now his form wiping around them and slowly forming solidly. "Do go on with your proposal, damned soul."

"No," Sebastian said, stepping closer. "Father," he added spitting the word. "My daughter - part of my flesh, part of my demonic self - as all I offer. My contracts are final and sealed to me. My wife is final and sealed to me."

"Which you converted without letting us know the happy news. You were falling for a human and not going to sacrifice her to us. And really, the others were really wishing to have a good fuck."

Sebastian almost lost his form completely but Ciel's grip on his neck made sure he didn't.

"My daughter's partial soul for my wife's heart."

"Not really a good trade," Satan said now all flesh and form. "A soul, a heart. I love taking them both."

"Demon," Ciel spat.

"No, dear boy, I'm the Devil. That," he pointed a long finger at Sebastian, "is a demon. A heartless and soulless being whose sole mission is to bring the damned down here quicker than the Reapers can rip them away from their bodies. Or the Angels. Those selfish bastards. I love a heart so full of emotion and ready for a good fight. Perhaps you, human, would like to dance with me instead?"

"No thanks, I prefer the devil I know over the one I don't," he smirked. Sebastian smiled; his master was in a rare form of verbal jousting.

"Hmm… you pick the most interesting ones, Michaelis."

"Thank you. Now, our deal. Lift your mark, and you can have the demonic soul of my daughter. This would mean she would never be immortal. She would never become a half-demon. She would be human and harmless. She would have a corruptible soul," he added as a side thought.

"And if we send a Demon to her?"

"She would be human and have free will."

Satan seemed to now consider this a better offer. He sneered at Sebastian and Sebastian smirked back.

Finally after taking two laps around the room and seeming to bring more spectators to watch the exchange, Satan stopped and held out his hand. "Fine."

Sebastian opened his left hand and a paper with his daughter's name appeared on it was an inky black spot that seemed to move, hover over the paper and Ciel seemed to understand that this was the representation of the demonic part of the baby his wife dotted on. Sebastian looked at the paper and curled his hand around it as Satan eagerly reached for it. "My wife's heart."

Satan opened his hand and a similar paper appeared. "Of course, this means I will be watching that pretty baby of yours once she is of age. 10 I believe, isn't that correct, Earl Phantomhive?"

Ciel looked at the man and sucked in his breath. "Age of consent and discernment. Of course. Fair enough."

" _'Fair enough!'_ " Satan echoed. "Ah a good one you have taken for yourself, Michaelis. Now, a trade?"

Two damned souls scurried forward and they snatched the papers from the outstretched hands and switched them. Sebastian looked at the paper and nodded; his wife's heart would be blemish free, and would be his property as much as the man who held on to his necks' soul was his. And he pocketed the paper and bowed as best as he could, half heartedly and smiled a bit. "I beg you my leave. I have humans to shower with my demonic love."

"Ah a joking spirit. Of course, go, have your humans and roll in the stink of emotions. Collect those bits of a soul and pretend you are one of them. Fuck the humans and break them - that is what we do if you need a reminder. Maybe even that pretty boy you hold. He seems like he needs a reminder as well."

"I don't," Sebastian said as he backed out of the darkened room and turned and swiftly made his way through the parting crowd, his hand over the paper that secured his wife, his other arm around the secured soul and his anchor while he was in Hell. He hurried and wished to wake and heal his anchor in the human world.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Monday morning to all my peeps! I know this arc/story is super slow - you, know, not obsessively having sex every scene... I do miss that... but it's also a story on the relationships maturing a bit past that. Because sometime one has to get over the bunny stage. I think. I wouldn't know because the other fic I have written in my spare NaNo time has them doing it all over the Manor - and some great pairings too. *evil laugh* Ok, so more emotions...

Ciel laid in the bed, his wife wrapped around him. He stared at the ceiling and kissed her temple as she rolled closer. He almost lost himself and his butler to Hell and he had offered his own soul - which was rightfully Sebastian's whether he liked it or not - to help his butler find the happiness that he so desperately had carved out. And now, he wondered as he slipped his arm from under his sleeping wife, satisfied and beautiful in her nakedness, was Mey-Rin as delighted to have her daughter's demonic side be used as a bargaining chip? He glanced at his wife and moved to put on his robe and walk around his Manor.

"My lord," Sebastian greeted him, almost scaring him.

"A bell, Sebastian, a goddamn bell."

The demon smirked. "Of course," and he seemed to summon one from thin air. Ciel placed a hand over his as he was about to ring it.

"Fool, you wish to wake my wife? At this hour?"

Sebastian smiled and with a flick made the bell disappear. "Yet you are up and troubled."

"Wondering. How is Mey-Rin with the news?"

"She is healed and is concerned about our daughter now being a tempting morsel for demons to come," he answered, walking beside his master. "But she has a plan, as always."

"She is strong."

"As are you," the demon commented as they walked down the wide stairs to the study. "A delicious feeling as love and as commanding as determination. That human courage to look even the Devil in the eye and offer up ones own soul for the sake of saving another. You are not as depraved as one would paint your race."

"Sebastian, it's too early to wax poetics," Ciel said settling in his chair and eyed the man before him. "But not too early for tea."

Sebastian smiled and bowed. "Yes, my lord."

Ciel sat in the darkened room and silence. He leaned back and looked at the ceiling, as if he could look up and see his bedchamber, his sleeping wife, and past that, to his servant's quarters, soon to be added to as Bard and Robin were ready to wed within the week. He would gain another two people to protect. And as the springtime rushed closer, his own wedding anniversary would also be celebrated. His study door was opened and quietly shut and he watched with small interest as his butler poured him tea and placed a slice of cake beside it.

"Cake?" he asked even as he picked up the fork. "Do you wish me awake so we can talk about marriage and life?"

"No, I have a wife to talk about such affairs with." Sebastian took a seat across from him and crossed his legs. He reached into his pocket and took out a piece of paper. "However, this affair is between us."

He laid the paper down and Ciel stopped mid-way with a fork full of chocolate cake. He had seen a similar paper a few months prior and he cared not to see one ever again. But across, in bold red letters, was his name. Ciel Phantomhive, Earl, Queen's Watchdog. And the inky blackness floating above was not as dark as the one he saw, but it was bigger. He replaced his fork on the plate and slowly lifted his eyes to Sebastian.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"I hold the contract to your soul," he said, casually, indicating the paper between them. "And I offer it back."

"Sebastian," Ciel whispered. "Why?"

"Because, my lord, I can not be true to who I am now if I hold on to this. I have taken too much of humanity, as I have noted many times, and have cultivated it deliciously to my tastes. They have been deeply deprived tastes, and luxuriously lavishing ones. I have crossed the globe taking and being greedy. And then, a little boy called, and I greedily answered. And I took something that I wanted, never asking if he really meant to give it. He was a boy."

"Of consent. In deep pain. In need of a guiding hand. And he got it all," Ciel said, his hand inching toward the contract. "And then some. He got a man who showed him love, family, protection. Unending devotion." Ciel leaned back, drawing his hands to his lap. "And then he could have lost it all due to his own selfish nature. But he let himself open up to the good and the bad. The heavens and the hells. Embraced the unthinkable and the glorious amounts of human emotions he had all but forgotten. He learned it from watching his demon begin to open and let his emotions rule his heart, a heart that he had thought dead and cold. A wonderful woman, a wonderful family, a wonderful life. And will to live it." Ciel sighed and sat forward again. "So no, you did not ask before you took what you wanted; but neither did I. I gave my pain and rage to you, and if my soul was built on that, and was to be taken as such, both of us would be content. But I think you have gotten a better meal now, do you not?"

Sebastian dropped his head and smiled. "Your schooling and quick mind shows, my lord."

"I had a good tutor."

"I imagine so."

The pair gazed at each other and finally Ciel put his fingers on the contract and twitched his lips into a smile. "Put this away before it becomes a tempting plate for another. You have my soul, you earned my soul. What has been taken can never be returned. The fact that you have part of my heart, no matter how much I wish to deny it, is something entirely different. I think even Lizzie would understand that our bond is deeper than most butler and master's relationships. As is the butler and the maid," he added, dragging the plate and cake back in front of him. "Speaking of, while Lizzie and I are in Scotland celebrating our one year anniversary, and hopefully becoming pregnant, what are you plans?"

"To do much the same," Sebastian said, rolling the paper back up and placing it in his coat. "Glorey is all human, and can be tempted, but she will not get too far. Her parents are rather protective of wayward souls."

"And a sibling will seal this protection?"

Sebastian smiled and gave a small laugh. "No, it would be a reason to expand our family and basically give Hell a run for its own gates when her siblings could be full demons, or also partially halflings. Mey-Rin is strong again and Glorey is about six months, and I know Lady Elizabeth would love to have a child around the same age as ours. Imagine it, my lord, our children playing together."

"Stop being so damn happy about it," Ciel muttered as he finished his piece of cake. "But yes, a lovely strong army of demon children that makes Hell and Satan just really want to come and smash us off the face of the earth is a grand idea."

"You once more are feeling better, as your jokes are becoming better." Sebastian stood and looked at the man he had raised from a trembling child to a commanding force. The Queen may have given him the title Earl and Queen's Watchdog, but Ciel himself had pulled the strings to make it come true. "Good night, my lord, I think my duties of securing the house for the night are done."

"Good night," Ciel said, even as the door closed. He pushed his finished dishes to the side and went back to his bedroom. Lizzie was sitting in bed and looked with sleepy eyes at him as he hung his robe up and climbed back into bed.

"Darling?"

"Shh, just some business to attend to and dismiss," he whispered as he reached for the subtle flesh of his wife. "Nothing that will disturb us anymore. And we pack for out trip in four days."

She giggled and her breasts brushed over his bare chest and they kissed. Ciel wrestled his wife and took her lips as his victory. He held her close and they fell asleep, his heart and soul safe, as her fingers laced with his and they fell back to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Mey-Rin was pushing the pram down the cobblestone walkway, towards the Manor. She was steady and laughing as Glorey babbled and sat up pointing at the bushes Finny had trimmed after the late spring shower that had given the world around them a surge of color. She blinked as the sun came out and slipped her glasses down, shading and shielding her demonic senses. Glorey stood and tried to grab at her apron and tried to crawl up to grab her glasses.

"Even our child hates not seeing your beautiful eyes," Sebastian said, coming beside them. He smiled and kissed his wife and placed a hand on her stomach; their second child was on it's way. A new year would welcome a new child to the Manor.

"Da! DA!" Glorey babbled and Sebastian swiftly picked her up as they continued to walk. He placed a protective hand on the back of his wife and curled his arm around his child. A content smile settling over the demon's lips.

"My dear," Mey-Rin said as they walked into the kitchen. "You know this weekend's dinner party is not a normal dinner. Both Lady Elizabeth's birthday and baby announcement will be the center of everything." She paused and they looked at one another, their hearing both acute. "And I hear that a fight is about to start if we do not intervene."

Mey-Rin had taken on the task of being a Lady's Maid, not just the house maid. As Sebastian handed Glorey to the waiting arms of Tanaka, the Michaelis couple walked swiftly to the center of sure disaster - the second floor hallway.

"I WILL NOT LEAVE LIKE THIS!"

"Elizabeth, you look beautiful," Ciel said, taking a step towards his wife. He saw Sebastian and Mey-Rin and pleaded with them to calm his usually hyper wife, down.

Instead of being hyper while she was pregnant, the staff had discovered that Lady Elizabeth quiet disappeared and a screeching, crying, image of Lady Elizabeth appeared. After their trip to Scotland, they had announced in the Manor that they were already a month along, and now, at three months, the staff had settled into an uneasy dance of trying to please Lady Phantomhive. Sebastian had expressed his worry more than once once they discovered they were also expecting.

"I LOOK LIKE A WHALE!"

Sebastian cut his young master a look as he started to open his mouth and Mey-Rin glided to the screaming woman and placed a hand on her arms, making Elizabeth blink and burst into tears. They had not told the couple they too were going to have a child again. They had only found out that morning when Mey-Rin once more was revisiting her meals.

"Shh, Lady Elizabeth," Mey-Rin said as she pulled the woman into her arms. "Sebastian will take the young master down to the study and will fix today's errands so you will not have to leave if you do not wish." She gave a hard look to Ciel and he finally nodded, knowing that the battle was long lost before he even had opened his mouth. "Now, let us go back to the room and we can look to see if there is something that will make you feel pretty, shall we?"

The weeping woman now nodded, her blonde curls bobbing. They moved back into the bedroom and through to the large closet that had been stocked with enough clothes that surely they could find something. She let the three month pregnant woman sit on the chase lounge as she shifted through the dresses. Mey-Rin tuned the sniffling out and listened to the conversation down below. She smiled; Sebastian was telling the master that they were also expecting. She looked down and placed a hand over her stomach, that would be once more expanding even as Glorey would begin to climb and begin to run. Sebastian had a lot to look after once she was unable to do as much as before. Of course she was as stubborn as always, and she was like Lady Elizabeth as well; Sebastian could tell her one thing and she would do something different. Of course, with her brush of death, and the trading of her daughter's demonic soul, she was sure to heed his wise words even more. The second baby was even more in danger. A direct defiance to Hell's warning. Of course the Undertaker had gleefully told them that he would gladly stand in the gap and defend them.

_"A Hell's demon and human dream - the fallen are rejoicing in taking a hafling off the earth. And you two are trying to have more. A fallen's dream!"_

"I don't feel cute anymore," Lizzie said suddenly, sounding like a small child. "Ciel always says I am pretty, but I don't feel like I am."

Mey-Rin sat beside her lady and took her hands. "Your body will change further. You are bringing a baby into this world soon, and that is so precious that you will find out you are stronger than you even imagine. This baby is so loved - and the master is right, you are pretty. And powerful. You keep us all smiling, so let us do the same now. Believe us when we tell you, you are pretty, my lady. And your baby makes you even more so." She smiled and glanced around the closet. "Your husband has given you so much, and loves you so much. He had hesitations when Mister Sebastian and I told him we were having Glorey, but he wants a child - a family - of his own. I can see the excitement in his eyes when he looks at you."

Lizzie sniffled and lifted her eyes up and blinked tears away. "Did you desire… desire him?"

"The young master?" Mey-Rin asked.

A heavy blush tainted Lizzie's cheeks. "Oh dear, no! No. Did you… desire Mister Sebastian, at night?"

It was Mey-Rin who blushed deeply. "Yes. Very much so. It's normal for your body to want and not want the tender touch of your husband. It can be… needed when the pregnancy continues. Don't shy away from his touch."

"It…" she shook her head and stood up. "How do women survive all the emotions!"

Mey-Rin laughed and stood as well, relieved that Lizzie seemed to be better now. "Men keep sharp objects away from some of us. Others know to approach with caution. We are dangerous already, and when we are carrying a child, well, we rather become even more protective, and on the other side, very needy."

"I'm not crazy?"

"No, Lizzie, you are not crazy," Mey-Rin said, hugging her lady, and smiled a bit at her slight lie. "Perhaps a little tea and some alone time with the young master is what you need?"

Lizzie pulled back and a glint in her eyes settled into her face. "You think Ciel will mind terribly if I make him even later?"

"To touch your body and wonder as it changes? No."

They walked to the bedroom door and Mey-Rin smiled; the young master was on the other side, also been sent to set things right, by her husband.

She left the couple and walked down to the end of the hallway, meeting her husband and letting him walk her up the backstairs, her stomach flipping in anticipation for what she was sure would be their celebration for their expanding family.

"My dear, a deep wealth of knowledge," he sighed as he closed the door to their old room. He smiled as she shrugged a bit. "And a modest one too."

"Only when I have to be."

"And now?" he teased.

She crossed over to him and pulled him down by his labels. "I hate being modest around you."

The kiss was enough to set the room into a soft hue as the fires of their desire rose. Sebastian and Mey-Rin's hands expertly devested each other of clothes and soon their naked skin was also radiating the Hell fires of two demonic souls on fire for the other.

"I have missed the simple room of our beginnings."

"And the simple lessons?"

Mey-Rin smiled and sat on the bed, spreading her hands over the comforter. "Oh those lessons, so important. Having to address ones superiors properly and always voice clearly what one wants." She lifted her eyes to the blazing ones of her husband as he climbed on the bed, slowly crawling over her like the sudden predator he was. "But the whip and chains, those were nice too."

"A minx."

"A demon."

He thrusted into her and Mey-Rin arched her back as the sudden feeling hit her as they moved in the familiar fashion of needs being answered. Her body took his cock as swiftly as he fed it to her, and they clung to each other as they kissed. Sebastian moved her left leg up, around his hip and plunged deeper and faster into her. Their child would again be protected as the couple climaxed as one. And Sebastian moved her to sit on him, still deep in the body he loved taking. He hardened and smiled as she shifted and lifted the riding crop that was still in their hiding spot was in her hands. He kissed her breasts, slightly still full of milk, but less now, but soon would be heavy once more.

"Fuck me faster," she moaned, lightly dragging the crop up his chest. "Now."

"Yes, mistress."

She was against the wall and he was working his cock deeper into her and she was biting down on his shoulder as he drew her need back out and she climaxed. Her orgasms were longer and more intense after she had Glorey and she had always commented on how amazing it was to have only a part of a demon's soul.

"Imagine sex with a full one. You are gloriously delicious, my lover," Sebastian had commented and had promptly took his full of her again.

"Fuck," he whispered and shifted her into his arms, and watched as her breasts bounced. He lifted his eyes and sucked in the air around them, and lost his form, holding her close and wishing he could share that with his wife, his eternal partner, as well. Her sex firmly kept him and she leaned into the dark feathers and kissed him as she bucked faster on his amazing cock.

"Come back to me," she whispered and he pulled himself back, obeying everything she uttered. "I love you."

He held her and finished deep inside her once more. "I love you as well. My love has no bounds."

Mey-Rin was breathing heavy as he walked them back to the bed and laid down on the undone comforter. "I would never bound you to anywhere."

"Oh but I am, willingly. I am bound to you," he added, kissing her neck and caressing her hips and her trimmed body. "And always will be back for you. I would sell my very soul to keep you by me."

"My love, no. I need that soul, so full of emotion to assure me that you really are here - you are mine."

His hands palmed her breasts and he reached down and dragged her shapely leg over his hip again. He smiled and kissed her softly. "My love isn't bound to a body, my sweet. Although I love this body. My love is bound to a spirit. And as for those delicious emotions, I think you would quickly draw them back to my heart. We worked hard to bind you to me, and now," he spread a hand over her hip and down to her occupied womb, "we have another reason to protect that."

"Will I have to give part of my humanity for this child as well?" she asked, her head resting on his shoulder.

"No, I think once was enough. Even so Glorey was born with half-demon and half-human soul because yours was torn and you both basically swapped half a soul, you are deliciously Vanilla and sulphur. A delicate balance I do love so much." He kissed her gently and soon she was snaking her arms around him, rolling on top of him, deepening the kiss.

"So my soul will never be ripped again, but our babies will have a chance to be full demons?"

"Yes, my love."

"And a demon can be trained not to give into their demonic side."

Sebastian smiled a bit and saw the flick of the riding crop as she took it once more and sat, straddling his hips, his cock rising in desire and at the power she held in her eyes.

"With you as their mother? They don't stand a chance of being evil."

"And you will not go around my back?" She flicked the leather at him and placed it on his cheek as he slowly smiled, his eyes turning and his tongue snaked out. "Sebastian."

"My dear, I would never dream of it. But, do punish me anyhow," he smiled and leaned up and cupped her breasts. "You can never have too much practice."

"Your lesson," she said, swatting at his hands as they crept up to her neck. "Will be respect. You will be fucking me and expanding our glorious family and respect me when I want to educate our children in fire arms, compassion, and taking out damn demons."

"Mmm… a fine combination, my mistress."

She slide the crop down and flicked it over his chest. "I am not sure which part excites you most - fucking," flick, "more babies," flick, "giving our children dangerous explosives," flick, "drawing out all the human emotions a halfling could handle," flick, "or killing demons," she placed a good whack beside his head and he smirked but never flinched. Even if she did severely hurt him, he would heal quickly, as she could as well, all thought slower with only half of the demonic powers.

"All of it."

He flipped her effortlessly and slipped deep into her folds and captured her cries of enjoyment with his mouth, once more drinking in every once of emotion and desire as he perfected his own.


	15. Chapter 15

Lizzie was shifting from standing to sitting, to walking around the sitting room. She glanced at her husband as he glided in and out of the room. She was four months, and had five more of this suffering. She placed her hands over her stomach, her baby. Lizzie let a tear slide over her cheeks and blinked them as she turned to the window, hearing someone else coming into the room.

"Lady Elizabeth?" Robin asked. Lizzie turned and smiled; Bard's wife was beautiful and so skinny. Lizzie burst into tears. "Oh dear," the other woman muttered and walked to gather the young woman into her arms.

"I can't seem to find a good place to sit, or walk, or anything! Ciel says he loves me, and I can't let him see me like this - I feel like I am never going to be cute again!"

Robin stood blinking as Lizzie burst into another round of tears. "Lazy Elizabeth," she finally said, placing a hand on her arms and looking her up and down. "It has been a rather long time since I have been with child, but, because I have, you must listen, this feeling you have is utterly over the top. You are an Earl's wife. A Nobleman's daughter and Lady of the House. Now, please, gather yourself! You are going to bare the most beautiful baby that the Earl deserves." She sighed and stood back a bit. "Forgive me and my bold tongue. I am not used to being around Nobles."

Lizzie paused the newest woman to their home. "Nonsense. You are speaking the truth. I am sorry. I have… I have never had many girl friends. Ciel was my best friend and I never really found anyone else to pass my time with. I was rather raised with my brother by my side and a sword in my hand. And pink, frilly dresses at all times," she added with a small smile. She eased her body into a chair and winced, turning and laying a bit back. "Does the aches leave anytime?"

"I pray for your sake, before the baby comes," Robin said, sitting across from her. "It gets better, I promise. Tea helps. And biscuits. I walked the pasture lands when I had Cassie. And the rivers when…" she turned and looked out the window, blinking back tears. "Well another life time ago."

"I don't think I could ever love if I lost Ciel," Lizzie said after a long silence.

"Nor did I," Robin said, smiling at her new mistress. "But bold Americans will find their way into our hearts."

Lizzie perked up as the door to the room opened and in glided Sebastian, tea on the tray and finger food, and biscuits waiting to be devoured. "It's like you knew I needed them, Sebastian," she said, grabbing a tea cup and a biscuit. "How is Mey-Rin fairing in her second pregnancy?"

"She is progressing smoothly. The second is easier, I think."

"Oh, I very much doubt I will do this a second time," Lizzie muttered as she stuffed another biscuit in her mouth. "No matter what ones says, this is not a comfortable or cute state to be in."

Sebastian bowed and smiled a bit. He wisely did not answer and soon the woman once more sitting alone.

"I am glad that Glorey is getting a sibling. And my own will have a playmate two months younger. And soon Cassie will be able to watch over them all. A full house of children and laughter," she sighed. "Like it was when we were children."

Robin smiled softly and watched as her husband opened the door to the sitting room an hour later, looking for her. She placed a finger over her lips and got up, picking up the discarded cups and walking with them back to him. She kissed him gently and watched as he blushed slightly.

"My, my, you can put anyone to sleep," he said as he closed the door to Lizzie sleeping in the chair.

"I rather think Mister Sebastian had a hand in that. Or maybe the master suggested some calming agent. If she doesn't stop with the hysterics all of us will be fleeing. There are times I do miss not having my own place to hid in."

Bard opened the door to below and eyed her. "You want your own cottage?"

"No. I want a cottage with you," she said, giving him another peck. "Speaking of, I need to see Papa. You think Mister Sebastian would mind terribly if we took some food to see him?"

"I have a basket all prepared," Mey-Rin said as they came into the kitchen. "I hope you don't mind; good ears."

The couple mutually blushed and Robin thanked the maid and took the basket and her husband's hand and walked out to the summer afternoon, Cassie's laughter floating from the garden as they walked to the path that cut through the Phantomhive Manor woods, close to Robin's old home.

The three of them laughed and held hands, Bard swinging Cassie over his shoulder as they climbed the hill to the cottage. There was a smile on their lips that had not been there before they had found each other and Robin was thankful for the cook, whose cooking really was terrible, for finding her when she was lost in the Manor. He saved her in more than one way, and she suspected she had done the same for him as well.


	16. Chapter 16

Sebastian hovered over his wife, over Lady Elizabeth, and made sure Mrs. Robin Brownings was as well equipped to manage her new home as well as her sheep. Sebastian smiled a bit; another strong woman who made sure to fight for what she wanted. The Phantomhive men certainly had a type of woman they preferred.

"You are awfully happy," Ciel grumbled as he moved past the butler and settled into his seat at the head of the dining table. "You must still be getting sleep."

"In a few weeks, if not sooner, Lady Elizabeth will deliver your child, and she will slowly return."

"One child and you are a bloody expert."

"I listen to my wife."

The two men stared at each other. "Fetch my food."

"Yes, my lord." Sebastian left and walked across the wide receiving hall. It was already decorated for the Fall Ball they were holding that night. He passed several extra servants that had been brought on, even so he did not really mind doing all the work, the young master made sure that the Phantomhive staff would be able to relax.

"After all, Sebastian, do I have to remind you that there is a lot of things to be thankful for? And we deserve to have a night all of us can enjoy. This year started off rather awfully, yet will end very gloriously." Ciel had looked out the window and sighed as he glanced back at his demon. "And no more trying to offer me my soul back as a Christmas gift, simply make sure your second child is secure. I don't care to have another trip to Hell to make more deals. I am beginning to think contracts are about as helpful as tits on a man."

Even Sebastian had to laugh at the rather rude joke and readily agreed; none of them could handle the emotions going up further if they had another attack. And Sebastian had stolen into the bowels of London, spoken to the Undertaker and a few of the fallen and had secured a network that would protect him and his family - every human and non-human. It had taken time, and he was surprised how many wanted the Michaelis family - and Phantomhive - to succeed against the rumbling uprising.

But at home, now back in the kitchen, Sebastian effortlessly dodged a few servants who seemed to be as blind and focused as Mey-Rin before they had fallen for each other, before they had set out to make her fully his, and he, hers.

"Oh my," one whispered and he turned slightly, giving a look at the young woman who was standing, staring at him. He smiled; oh yes, he was beautiful and desirable. He smiled wider as his wife rounded the corner and Glorey was lifting her unsteady legs as Tanaka held her hands. He glanced back at the woman who was gawking at him and made him think back to the many times when Mey-Rin did the same.

"Sebastian! Sebastian!"

He and the rest of the staff turned as he heard Ciel's desperate cries carry down the stairs and seemed to bounce off the walls, even as he heard the footfalls of his young master. "Dear god, those steps are steep - Sebastian!"

"I am here, master."

"Lizzie… it's time!"

Sebastian looked at the human and turned to look up the stairs. Even he could not see through walls and floors, but he smelled, and he nodded. "Tanaka, if you would, call the doctor. We have a baby coming. Bard, please as quick as possible alert the guests our ball will be postponed. Mey-Rin, please coordinate with the extra staff," he said, smoothly took over, cool headed and decisive. "Young master, we shall make Lady Elizabeth as comfortable as possible, and perhaps get some ear plugs for you. It can get very painful - for you both." He added as he slid a look towards his wife.

He wondered how this birth would be different for her; she was now a half-human, half-demon, and her soul would not be ripped in half even as she gave birth, hopefully making it less painful.

The Phantomhive servants smiled and nodded, they scattered and Sebastian looked back at the hired extras, and caught the still awed servant looking at him. He turned and laughed a bit. Mey-Rin no longer looked with longing at something she could never have, nor he at her. They could do very longing and needed things together, and not feel like they were taking advantage of their feelings. He bounded up the stairs after the young master, listening even as the other Phantomhive servants went and did what he asked. He paused as Cassie and Finny were standing on the side of the hall, looking at the rapidly retreating form of their master.

"Finny, fetch water. Miss Cassie, please get your mother; her assistance is needed."

"She is in the field."

Sebastian rapidly calculated how quick the girl would run and the distance she had to cover. "She will be alerted by Bard most likely. Please, head to the kitchen and take Glorey to the nursery. There are toys there that you both can play with while we wait."

"Yes, Mister Sebastian," Cassie said and skipped down the hallway. He watched and couldn't help but smile. His own children would do the same together someday.

"Sebastian! What are you doing just standing there? I have a child on its way!"

"Many apologies, my lord. However, I think your assessment is wrong in how quick your child will be coming."

"Mey-Rin gave birth in six hours," Ciel pointed out as he walked quickly into the bedroom where his wife lay, her breathing alternated between labored and calm.

"I was told it was the excitement in my return that sped up the birth."

"Well, lucky you," Ciel muttered as he sat beside his wife. Lady Elizabeth was wincing and starting to stand. "What are you doing? What are you doing?"

"I'm standing! Gods, what does it bloody look like?" Lady Elizabeth practically screamed. She held on to the bed post and walked around the bed, looking back and forth between the men. "I'm not fragile, so please stop looking at me as if I am. My parents - have you told my mother?"

Ciel threw a look at Sebastian and Sebastian darted out of the room, quicker than Lady Elizabeth would ever be able to see if she was looking at him. He flew past the extra servants, pausing to kiss his wife, long and deep, and past the garden, over the trees, and soon was flying, his speed and inky demon body floating on the winds, like a bird, and landed so gently into the front gardens of the Midfords. He knocked on the door, and faced their butler.

"Mister Sebastian," he said smoothly. "Are you calling alone?"

"Yes, Mister Victor, I am. I come with a most urgent message, for Lady Midford, if you please."

"Please," the Midford butler said as he let Sebastian pass. He watched as the butler went to fetch Lady Elizabeth's mother, standing still, counting the moments that passed. He knew that there wasn't any reason he would have to fear missing the birth of his young master's child. He smiled; there was nothing he would miss for Ciel would call for him, and in the same breath forbid his wife to birth his child.

"Mister Sebastian," Lady Midford said, gliding around the staircase and stopping in front of him. "A very peculiar moment to come. How is my precious daughter?"

"She is expecting the birth of her child," Sebastian said smoothly. "She has started the process."

Lady Midford's hand flew to her mouth to stifle a scream of joy. "Alexis! Edward! Elizabeth is about to bring her child into the world!" She turned and looked at Sebastian. "Drive us quickly."

"I do not have a carriage," he said. And he smiled a bit. "I was dropped off by the cook on his way to get the doctor."

"Oh good, the doctor is on his way. Alexis! Come down quick!"

"My dear, all the yelling. Oh," he said as he saw Sebastian. "Is Elizabeth alright?"

"She is about to give birth," his wife spat. "Get my shawl, we must go!"

Sebastian bowed and took his leave, once more spreading himself into the sky, into the inky demon he was deep down still, even so he was so full of the human emotions that kept tugging him down into the solid ground.


	17. Chapter 17

Mey-Rin and Cassie took care of the wash bin and Robin helped to undress Lady Phantomhive, helping to ease her into the bathtub. Elizabeth's mother was slamming the door in Ciel's face even as he was standing in the doorway, making him take a step back, bumping into Sebastian's solid form.

"My child," he moaned and placed a hand on the closed door. "Sebastian, make sure she is okay."

The butler saw the tears in his masters' eyes and he nodded. He had barely made it from the depths of Hell to witness his own daughter's birth, and he felt the hurt as the young man stood and turned away, wiping tears angrily away. Sebastian knocked on the door and found himself facing the angry glare of Baroness Midford.

"What?"

"Please, I need to speak to my wife," he said smoothly. He dared not look past the woman who had delivered two children of her own into the very world that Lady Elizabeth was working hard to do the same. He pursed his lips; he would someday watch his own daughter do the same, and then live and die.

Mey-Rin slipped out of the bathroom and smiled at her husband.

"I am glad I don't have a mother anymore," she whispered as they walked away and into the hall. "Lady Midford is driving me crazy."

"And you have patience of a saint," Sebastian said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her head. "You dealt with my stubbornness," he added as she eyed him curiously. "You look exhausted."

"Ten hours and her labor is slowing and starting. We have walked the halls, climbed the stairs, and I have drank more tea then I think the Queen herself does."

"I think you and Glorey need to go home; this Phantomhive child is as stubborn as its father."

"And you say I have the patience of a saint," Mey-Rin retorted. "I remember what an obnoxious preteen he was."

"He wanted everything in his timing. The world does not work that way."

"Nor does his child," she smiled and gladly accepted the little extra weight lift as they walked down the stairs. "Can you spare a few moments and bring Glorey? If we do have a child tonight, then you can alert me quickly and I will come, otherwise, I do need sleep." She yawned as if to prove the point. "I am still half-human."

"And I would have it no other way," he muttered as he kissed her temple and lifted his daughter from Tanaka's arms. "I shall be back shortly," he addressed the old butler.

"Of course," Tanaka said and seemed to slip into the darkness even as the Michaelis' did the same.

Sebastian wasted no time as soon as her foot hit the gravel path that led to their far off cottage, to scoop his beloved and child, and the one which in a few months would also come into the world. They raced back to the cottage and Mey-Rin placed Glorey down for her nighttime sleep, and ventured into the kitchen which Sebastian was wiping down after feeding their cats.

"My darling," she whispered, burying her face into his white shirt back as best as her seven month belly allowed. "I could use some tea and a foot rub."

She heard the tea being poured and soon was in a chair, his arms around her. She blinked and smiled a bit as he kissed her forehead.

"You fell asleep in the middle of a sentence."

"I don't think I would make it to the birth of a Phantomhive child even if they called at this very moment. Speaking of," she said, shifting to take the offered tea and cocked her head. "I don't hear much."

"She is fine, the doctor is saying it could be morning when the child arrives. The young master is rather sullen in his study alone."

"Oh," she said, yawning. "Well I can go to bed -"

"Do not move mistress," he whispered demandingly in her ear. "I have my own pregnant woman to satisfy."

He captured her lips as his hands worked off her shoes and slipped up and under her skirts and peeled the long socks off her legs. He snorted as his hand swept across her thigh, finding her usual hidden pistols secured to them, keeping her socks up, much like the clips the young master wore under his pants. He teased her as he skirted her thighs, kissing her as he lightly trailed further up her leg and kissed her deeper and deeper.

"I can't," she moaned as his fingers glided into her folds and then drifted back down to take her holsters and socks off as quick as he could.

"My love, it's not for me only to delight on your body. Our baby demands some as well, as does your limbs," he added as he turned his attention to her ankles, sore and swollen. "You need to sit more," he lightly admonished.

"I have a lot to do," she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder and letting her eyes drift once more down. "I love you."

"Because I give good ankle rubs?"

"Don't make me wake and slap you."

"Hmm… I'd enjoy that more than listening to the Phantomhive and Midfords bicker with the doctor." He stilled and his hand rubbed her feet a bit more. "I am afraid I must go and intervene. A butler's job is never done."

"No, nor is a maid's," Mey-Rin added, yawning into his shoulder as she shifted. "I do have to say, this child is much more relaxed than Glorey was."

"It understands that mommy needs some relaxation."

"Or it senses that Hell isn't after it."

Sebastian pulled her close and wrapped his hands possessively over his second child. "Never will you or our family feel such wrath."

"But it could come," she whispered as he moved to lift her and once more climb the stairs to their large bedroom.

"Yes, it could come. Glorey is human, this child will be something unique. We have traded the safety of our lives for very dangerous ones."

As Mey-Rin settled around the pillows nested around her, she smiled a bit. "I love our dangerous life - I get to ask you to kiss me, and you do."

"As you command me, my love, I shall do anything." He knelt down and held her hand as she slowly drifted into the sleep of an exhausted, pregnant woman. He looked over to the small window that was beside their bed and saw the Phantomhive Manor's lights still on and felt the tug of his young master's feelings for company and reassurance his wife was safe as they patiently waited for the next child in the household to arrive.


	18. Chapter 18

Bard paced the hallway in front of his door. He bit the skin around his thumb and glanced down the stairs. He paused in front of his room with his wife - he sighed even at the mere mention of the title - and bit his lip. Bard was a wreck. He knew it. Finally he opened the door to his bedroom, the one he had snuck out of after Robin had finally fallen asleep after helping Lady Elizabeth as much as she could. She had come in and barely undressed before she lay on the bed. Bard had been mid-sentence when he turned and saw her body was not moving, her breath slowed and her eyes closed. He had covered her with a blanket and sat in a chair, watching her.

Now, a few hours later, he had left her to sleep, and had taken to pacing the corridor. He had heard Finny come from the bathroom, and had checked to make sure Cassie was still asleep, and he took his pacing again. He wasn't sure why he felt nervous, it wasn't his wife in labor. It wasn't his child on the way. It wasn't his parents who were pacing and worried. But he was worried nonetheless.

"Bard."

"I'm sorry I woke you," he said in hushed tones as he crept through the dark and closer to the bed. He could make out the silloette of Robin sitting in the bed. "I just needed some thinking time."

"Think next to me," she said. Bard sat and she melted into his side, sighing and kissing his cheek. "What has you so worried?"

"I don't know. I… I have never watched a woman struggle so much to bring a child into the world."

"Glorey's birth was easy?"

"Compared to this, yes. Although not on her emotions. Mister Sebastian had left unexpectantly and Glorey was born the day he came back," he said, settling on his back, his arms encircling his wife. "There was so much anticipation for that little girl, as there is for the young master's own child. You can feel how the Manor has changed over the year."

"Is it a bad thing?" Robin asked, shifting and soon her head was on his shoulder, her body pressed into his. "Cassie and I have found a safe haven, and I don't have to work. Cassie is getting a fine education from Mister Sebastian and Mey-Rin. She gets to play with Glorey, and my father is getting the needed medical attention. My life has changed so much. But the best change," she added, now, crawling over him and kissing his mouth, "is I have a husband who is very, very good looking, and knows how to handle explosives."

"I do like me some dynamite."

"So do I," she added, as she dragged her body and his pants down. "I like making them explode."

And Bard had no time to react before his cock was in her hands, and her mouth and tongue were bathing it, commanding it to be stiff and pleasured. He smiled a slow and lazy smile; there were many woman who had tried to get him to be turned on in an instant, and only Robin knew how. He closed his eyes and stroked his wife's hair as she bobbed on his cock, now stiff and proud.

"My love," he sighed as she sped up and he sighed and grunted as he let his body and need be released. "I need you," he said as he finished down her throat. He hauled her up and they took her slip off, and he palmed her breasts, still small and proudly on her chest, being 10 years younger than he was. He slipped her legs apart and fingered her folds, smiling as she arched her back and delivered the first fluids he would be drawing out of his bride that night.

She settled on his cock and soon set the rhythm of their love making. She was a lusty bedmate and only seemed to be a meek shepherdess outside their bedroom walls. He slid his hands over her body, round enough and hard enough, the perfect body for his lover to be in. The bed creaked suggestively and he was breathing hard to keep up with her demand.

"Fuck me," she whispered and laid on his chest, letting him take over. He pulled her around his waist and sideways on the bed, now half-kneeling and half-standing as he took over. "Fuck me please," she moaned as he slammed his cock deep into her repeatedly.

"I will do whatever you need me to," he said, panting again. He closed his eyes; to be younger, and stronger. To be able to not feel sore as he changed his angle and pressed deeper into her. To not be so old and so tired and so…. He groaned and let his seed flow into his beautiful wife. He hung his head as he finished, not sure if she had been fully satisfied. He felt her hands on his chin and cheek and opened his eyes as she sat up a bit.

"I love you Baldroy."

He smiled and slipped out, watching how she curled up and made space on the bed for him. She snuggled once more into his side and kissed him deep.

"I love you too, Robin. Now, sleep, I have a feeling we will all be loosing sleep soon."

Robin yawned and rested her head on his shoulder and smiled. "I hope so."

Bard drifted to sleep wondering if she meant the young masters baby, Mey-Rin's next child, or the possibility of one of their own. He settled on the last thought that love for anyone of the tiny humans under their roof was good enough to cover them all.


	19. Chapter 19

Lady Elizabeth pushed and screamed. Earl Ceil stood outside and clenched his hands into fists. Mey-Rin pushed the door open and met the worried eyes of the Earl and she flashed an easy smile as she placed a hand on his arm, and brushed past. She glanced at Sebastian as she passed him as well. The pair broke away and merged into the wall and paused.

"You look tired," Sebastian said, caressing her cheek. "Is there too much stress on you?"

She smiled and turned into his hand. "No my love, we are fine. Lady Elizabeth is doing well. The doctor told us to get some rest, some tea, and food."

"Yes, m'lady," he muttered, as if given an order and flashed faster than Mey-Rin could in her current condition, and came back a moment later, a platter full of the items she had listed. "Refreshments?"

"You spoil us," she said. "Now, I will go and deliver this, and you go back to spoil the young master."

"And you will call?"

Another scream pierced the air. "I think Lady Elizabeth and baby will do that for us."

He bent and kissed her and smiled as she turned and once more slipped into the bedroom. He sat on the chair beside Ciel and folded his hands, once more wishing more than anything he could see through walls.

"Why don't you whispy and go in and check? I know you wish to as badly as I do."

"'Whispy,' my lord?"

Ciel turned his hard blue eyes toward the butler and scowled. "Become demon and crawl under the door. Loose yourself - surely you remember how."

"Of course but I am not sure it is wise. Lady Elizabeth-"

"Could be dying!" The two sat with mere inches apart and Ciel turned away first. "She could be in pain."

"Of course she is in pain, my lord, she is giving birth. It is pain and love that brings a human into the world. And sometimes," he said easing back a bit. "It is pain and love that takes one out."

Ciel's hand connected almost to his face and Sebastian caught it. "Slap me and punch me if you wish, but the fact remains that today your child will be born. And that, my lord, is a beautiful pain that your wife is now delivering into the world as we speak."

And a sharper cry now came through the heavy oak doors and Sebastian watched as Ciel's eyes widened and he seemed to stop breathing. He smiled to himself, was he like that when Glorey came into the world? Would he be like that when his next child came along as well?

"A baby," Ciel muttered.

And the door flung open as Robin came bounding out, smiling and closing the distance between her and a shaky Earl.

"A boy! A healthy boy!"

And if the statement needed to be punctuated, the newest Phantomhive male screamed, shaking the young man, husband, and now father, to his knees in awe.

"A boy."


	20. Chapter 20

Ciel could not stop staring at his son. He was a lovely mix of his blue eyes and Lizzie's golden locks. His fair skin was a mix of his and hers. Vincent Leon Phantomhive opened his eyes and yawned, and then screamed.

"Oh god," his father gasped and the quick hands of Sebastian, always nearby, covered his, holding the baby safe.

"My lord, perhaps a change of diaper?"

The smell hit Ciel and he wrinkled his nose. "How do you stand this?"

"It gets better. And they become better at controlling their vocals and bowels."

"It's a long road of being fathers isn't it?"

Sebastian nodded and took the baby out of his master's arms. "Please wake your wife, I will take care of the changing and bring him to Lady Elizabeth for feeding."

"You sure you have never had children before?"

Sebastian gave him a look and shook his head. "None that were of my blood. All of my 'children' are contracted."

Ciel paused as he turned and gave him a side glance. "I am sure there was some sarcastic remake that goes with that statement. At least I waited until I wasn't in diapers."

"Ah, but not above wetting the bed."

"Sebastian…"

"My lord…"

"Don't make me order you to tend to my son."

"I thought you were worried I would contact with your son?"

"Leave."

"Of course, my lord."

Sebastian let the full smile grace his lips as the master walked out and threw him a glance, his eyes dancing with the smile that was also on his lips. Happiness and love bonded them in a unique way, deeper than the contract they shared.

"Vincent," Sebastian sighed. "Your father is something very special."

The baby cooed and let out another scream. Sebastian swiftly changed his diaper and carried him down the hall. Mey-Rin came around the corner and smiled.

"Don't let Glorey see you, she will think she has been replaced." She sighed and leaned against the wall for a moment. "And this one," she said, looking down and cradling their next child to be born, "is eager to meet the next Earl."

Sebastian placed a hand on her stomach and they shared a small look as their second child kicked again. "I think this one will be a handful. Possibly another halfling."

Mey-Rin winced at a particularly hard kick landed on her bladder. "Or a demon. Shh… little one, mommy needs to be able to walk."

"Let me deliver Vincent to his mother, and I will come back and take you home," he said, looking her over. "I don't like how you are holding yourself together. My love, please, let me take care of you."

"I'm not complaining or stopping you," Mey-Rin said as she lifted her eyes towards him. "I think we may have an early birth."

Sebastian pursed his lips and raced to deliver Vincent back into Ciel's startled arms. "Mey-Rin, she is having more pains lately."

"Go, tend to her," Ciel said, worry not in his face as he watched his butler melt into the air and back to his wife.

"Ciel?"

He turned and opened the door to their sitting room off their bedroom. Lizzie had set up the room to be a nursery so she and Ciel were never far from their month old son. Christmas was a bigger affair and had showered each member of the family with tremendous amounts of gifts; the biggest gift was in his son. He smiled and kissed his wife gently as he placed his son into her arms. He was glad that her parents had gone back to their home the day before, leaving the couple to parent for almost 12 hours alone. Lizzie glowed as his son suckled on her breast, and looked down at him. Once more he stared. He wondered if his own father, his sons' namesake, had done the same when he was a baby. Surely he had and his mother had doted on him as his wife did now. There was a thud on the other side of the door and Ciel turned and hurried to the door and quickly walked into the hallway.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Master," Finny said. He was panting. "The garden… there are … things. In the garden." He pointed toward the windows down the hall. Ciel's heart plummeted. If there was something in the garden, that could mean only a few things.

"Get Bard. I will get Sebastian."

Finny nodded and ran down the hall, his footfalls sending small shocks under his feet. Ciel did the same, in the opposite way. "Sebastian, I need to know what is going on."

He took the wide staircase as quick as he could, and glanced around, suddenly feeling so very small and scared. His wife, his son, his servants - some innocent, some weapons, all in potential danger. "God damn it, Sebastian! What is going on!"

And like liquid smoke, he was surrounded by the inky darkness, which once had rescued him and now seemed to take him and carry him away. Ciel clung to the neck of his demon, the one whose eyes now glowed brightly, and smiled, sharp teeth and cold hands, and trusted him with everything.

"I am here, my lord, until the very end."

"Do clarify that, please. I am not ready."

"No, my lord, this is not the end. Never fear. Your enemies have not been eliminated. And your family is only beginning."

"What are you waiting for? Bring safety back to the Phantomhive manor!"

"Yes, my lord."

And he was once more flying, a feeling he had not felt in a long time. His trip to Hell was the closet thing he felt til now. The wind was nothing and soon he was at the cottage, being put down, Sebastian whole and human, his swift bow and holding the door made Ciel straighten and enter the small cottage. In a chair was Mey-Rin, a worried look on her face and her hands on her rounded belly. Glorey was standing beside her, a year old and babbling as she looked up at her mother.

"Mey-Rin," Ciel said, scooping up Glorey and looking at the maid. "Are you in pain?"

"She is, my lord," Sebastian answered. "Our child has a dark soul, I am afraid and the demons are once more out to take it for themselves."

"A demon? Is she having a demon?" the young man hissed as he backed away, holding Glorey away as if her mother was toxic.

"Perhaps," he said in a sad voice. "I have covered us as much as possible and have called in all those who support us, and yet, my fallen brothen are coming to claim my child. Again," he added, as he stroked Glorey's dark hair. "My lord, I can protect you and my family as well - Glorey's dark soul has secured that. Please, do not fear. But this," he knelt before his wife, "is something different. I fear he want not my child, but my wife. I fear he wants to take out the humanity completely and take Mey-Rin as his child bearer. A demon woman who once was human, who could bare children." He turned and looked at his master. "My love has condemned her."

Ciel walked to the window and looked out. "My fear and hate condemned me to an eternity of a marred soul. A scared body. A fear so deep I still wake with sweats at times." He looked back at the worried demon. "But you are a demon, Sebastian. A demon who has found what he wanted and needed. It wasn't me. It wasn't even Mey-Rin, or Glorey - it was what we represent. I am greed. Mey-Rin, determination. Glorey, purity. You are as human a demon as one could make himself." He set Glorey down and watched as she crawled back to one of the couches. "Sebastian Michaelis, you are going to do what you need to do to defend your love, your soul, and your family." He paused and smiled. "And then you are going to show me how to change my son without gagging."

A smile graced the demon's lips. "A humorous outlook on life. A joyful life. Ah my lord, it is you who should be worried about your life, not I. You are still fragile and vulnerable. The fact that you have seen your 18th birthday, has surprised even me. But your strength is no longer in me, or relied on me." He stood and walked toward the Earl. "I once offered your soul back to you and you said I was being presumptuous that you wanted it back. Your trust in me is great. And it has gotten me out of Hell numerous times."

"And I would do it again," Ciel said, placing a hand on the demon's cheek, surprising them both at the intimate act. "I will always call your name."

"And I will always answer," he said, kneeling, swiftly and in utter submission. "My lord."

"Go and heal your wife. Your children need their mother. You need your wife. And I believe Lizzie would have some strong words if her maid was missing."

"I am sure."

And with that Sebastian was once more ink, once more demonic, once more nothing but the rage that was still his hellish soul.


	21. Chapter 21

There was darkness in her soul - of course there was, she scolded herself. She had birthed a child by a demon, their love and persistence to stand together for all eternity, binding her to the darkness of Hell. To make her human and demon. Parts of those worlds, yet not in some ways. She was still human. But could run quickly, sense things for miles around, feel deeply, and hear the differences between sighs of satisfaction and sighs of fatigue. There were mortal and immortal things residing in her body. And another baby was also in her. She loved being pregnant. It was a long and hard journey to have their first, and it seemed to be easier the second time around. Glorey was only seven months old when they discovered they were with child again. It wasn't as urgent this time; she was sealed to her mate. Her soul torn. Her being split.

"Don't cry momma."

There was a small voice in her head and she wanted to cry out and talk to it. She wanted to reach for her mate, for her young master, for her baby.

"I'll be there soon and the demons don't have to wait."

Mey-Rin sobbed. Didn't have to wait? What did that mean? Who was talking? Glorey was already - her baby? Her baby! Her child not yet outside her womb was talking to her. _Oh my child, you will never be handed to them._

"I know. I will close the gates, momma. I am the power they fear in halflings. But I am not a halfling. I am daddy's darkness and your light. But I am demon, not human."

She bent over, cradling her child in her arms. So precious, so beautiful, so full of the darkness that she had fallen in love with. _My child, you will never be dark. Your voice and knowledge is beyond darkness._

"I am darkness and void. I am an empty soul. But don't cry momma. If you wish I can take one. I can take the souls of those of this house. I can eat and dine with daddy and be the prefect child you have wanted. I will close the gates. I am the power they fear."

_You speak as if you have existed before._

"I have."

Mey-Rin stilled and finally was able to open her eyes. She could see, even so her eyes had been open the entire time. But now the curious eyes of her one-year old held hers. And then as she looked up, the dark tailcoats of her mate slide into view. He was talking to someone - the young master. A man who looked like kindness and rage. A man whose gentle touch had healed her a bit from her past. And the demon who had served him and found her. The demon she had fallen in love with. The demon that her child in her was beating to come out and look at.

"I have been with this world for a long time."

"I have been the darkness that the world seeks."

"You are the light and I am the dark. Forever will we dance."

_NO! You are not evil! You are beautiful and divine! You are not your father's darkness because he has suppressed it. He loves, and has a soul of kindness._

"And hate. He hates my kind. Demons. Those who wish to have power. Those who wish to be powerful."

_But you are only a baby. Can you already be this dark?_

"This is the potential I have. Momma, I do love you and I ever so wish to be good. I just… am not sure I can be."

_Shh… child. Never fear. Your father and I have loved you since we discovered you were with me. Even if you are a dark soul, you will learn to protect your sister and love her. You will learn to protect and love the Phantomhive family as we all have. Your darkness will always be with you, as the past of my survival is with me. But they will not always rule you. You only but ask and your father or I will take you so you can let your darkness be excerscised and not build. Even your father and I have to do that to survive._

"I love you, Momma."

Mey-Rin stood up and leaned into the strong back of her lover, who was still standing, now holding Glorey.

Her hands slid up the fine fabric, like it had so many times and she turned and leaned her head on his shoulder, feeling the ripple of power underneath.

"Our child is safe," he said, quietly.

"No, my love, our child is a demon and is very powerful."

He shifted a bit. "How do you know this?"

"While you were gone, I was talking to our child. It's afraid that it is powerful and dark. The demons will want it and that it will close the gates."

Sebastian turned and placed Glorey on the ground. His free hands rested on her shoulder and cupped her cheek. "We will never be a normal family. My love, we will always have light and darkness in our mists. Glorey may be tempted, this child may be evil, you and I will always be as one. There are certainties, and there are probabilities. Our children are strong - like their mother. Our children are straddling the line of human and demon - like their father. But our love and strength will guide them, as it did us." He bend and kissed her slowly, passionately. "And our arms will always be wide for them," he pressed a hand to her stomach. "No matter what they are fighting, we face and fight together."

"I wish I wasn't pregnant," Mey-Rin sighed as she pulled his startled face back towards her. "I'd be fucking you so hard."

Their kiss was enough to cause a small glow of heat emanate from around them, making Glorey stumble back and find some of the cats curled up and indulging in a late afternoon nap. She curled up and blinked at her mother and father, not sure why they were glowing, but feeling safe among the fur and purring, among the two people who loved her. And as she closed her eyes she almost could feel a tiny hand grab hers and settle into her palm.

Glorey smiled as she drifted to sleep. Her dark soul may have been given away, but her baby brother or sister was still able to reach out before they were born. A bond as deep as siblings could be.


	22. Chapter 22

Bard held Robin as he rocked deeper into her. He had found his age had also declined his ability to make love to woman, but Robin's body, or maybe the fact he was in love with her, not just a warm body and a good bedding. He was enjoying his bed mate, who was also enjoying it.

"Oh god, Bard…" Robin panted, her breasts mashed against his chest, her legs splayed, letting his cock saw in and out of her. "Oh gods… please… yes…"

Their midnight snack had turned into a midnight coupling, and they knew that would not be disturbed for a few hours. Bard nipped at her neck and pulled out, turning her and bending her over the table. And they continued. Bard continuously entered his lover and moaned himself. There were so many perks of being married, he thought to himself, but, as he held her hips, this of a warm tunnel around his hardened cock, was the best one. Robin was younger and needy, she was actively working around the manor, taking care of Vincent and Glorey. But she always willingly took Bard, sometimes just to relieve the stress of their day, sometimes, like now, because they could.

"Fuck…. Fuck… fuck…" Robin whispered as he finished pounding into her. He smiled and wrapped his hands over her breasts and kissed her neck.

"Those fowl words sound so amazing when you say them," he whispered as he came. "And I'd fuck you more if I was able."

They pulled away, panting and sweaty. His hands were down between her legs, massaging the last of her pleasure into her, out of her, and all around them. The kisses were hot and salty and Bard rested his forehead on hers and smiled lazily.

"You tease."

"I was tired," she countered and leaned up and kissed him deeply. "And then I saw you standing there making a sandwich. And I was hungry. So," she kissed him again on the neck, "hungry," she added as her hands drifted down to his waist.

"And it couldn't wait til we got to bed?"

She smiled and pushed him a bit, walking to where her dress had floated to the floor before he had backed her into the table. "No, my dear, that," she nodded to the table as he picked up his pants. "Couldn't wait for anything. I had to have you right then. I didn't think you'd mind."

"No, I will never say no to a beautiful woman and a sexy body."

"Oh, now, now, Mister American," she said smiling and placing a palm on his still bare chest. "I'm not here to be chased and won so easily."

He captured her as she tried to slip away, around the table, toward the hall that lead to the back stairs. He laughed and snuggled into her neck.

"I'm not chasing just any woman, my dear. I am chasing a lovely English woman who spends her energy loving animals, a child of her own, and several she has adopted." He kissed her and pulled back. "Don't tell the young master I called him a child."

Robin smiled. "As long as I can call you my other child at times. I did just take care of you," she added, whispering into his ear.

"Gods above, woman. You want me to die?"

"As long as it's from fucking me and making our lives amazingly complete in each others arms."

"I can agree to that," he said, once more wrapping his arms around the woman he had completely fallen in love with. "We better clean this and go to bed; Mister Sebastian said Mey-Rin may be giving birth sooner than they planned."

"Two babies a few months apart? Our quiet home away from the Manor better be coming along quickly," Robin said as she took a rag and ran water over it. "Cassie already asked if we are going to have a baby."

Bard paused as he put the cheese away. "And?"

She turned and looked at him. "And? I know I wasn't the only one who was involved in making love a few moments ago."

Bard went a bit pale. "A child? Another one?"

Robin straightened from her wiping the table. "You wouldn't want a child?"

"Well," he paused and wrung another cloth out. "Our home already will have three children under a year and half. Glorey is starting to stand and soon she will be walking. Cassie has studies and we have an Earl and Lady to take care of. A Manor to defend."

"Defend? From creatures black as night?" she said, shivering a bit. "What were they and why is no one afraid? Finny was scared for a little while and then he basically was like a statue, standing in the doorway, watching them. And you, disappearing for hours, coming back smelling like gun cleaner."

"I told you there were things that made the Earl a target and each of us Phantomhive servants are capable of defending him. He took us from dark places and gave us a new purpose. As much as I love you, my loyalty is with the Earl."

The couple looked at each other from across the table they cleaned. "And bringing another child to our family would throw the balance of that loyalty?"

Bard slowly walked toward his wife. "No, my dear, it would not. I can be loyal to the young master and defend you and our family too. Each person who resides in the Manor is my family, and I am theirs. Just was trying to say that having a child with you is something I want to do, but not now. There is too many things going on and we need to focus on keeping each other safe."

She turned a bit away from him, out of his arms. "When David and I married, we married because his family had the land that my family lived and worked on. Cassie was payment for that land because his parents wanted a grandchild. They wanted a boy. But when David got sick, and we were not having anymore children, they had already signed the majority of the lands to the current Earl Phantomhive. David died and I made do, even so his parents wanted to take Cassie. My only child and connection to their family, and they wanted to take her away," she said, her voice breaking at the memory. "A child with you would be out of love, not duty or binding land. It would be because I love you and I want a child with you."

"And I want one with you," he said, once more pulling her close. "I just am asking to wait a year or so if we can."

"And if I can't wait? If we get pregnant?"

"I can't deny that is a possibility," he said, smiling. "I bed you regularly."

"I'm not missing my monthlies," she added quickly and pulled him down to meet her gaze. "I am just telling you I want to keep you satisfied."

"Oh darling," he whispered and kissed her gently. "I have nothing to give and nothing to take if you have our child or not. I only offer you my clumsy heart."

"I'm sorry I am questioning your motives. I know. I know you care and love me. I know you care and love Cassie. I sometimes wish I had met you before."

He huffed as they shuffled out of the now clean kitchen. "You'd not like the man I was. I am much better now. And even more so because I have you and Cassie."

"Would you have let me light your dynamite?"

He groaned and pushed her into the wall. "Watch that tongue. You can light me up."

She leaned into him and dragged her lips over his chin and nipped at his ear. "Fuck me."

He leaned over to the gaslight on the wall and blew it out.

"Boom."


	23. Chapter 23

_A few months later_

Ciel held his wife and smiled. Her breasts were still full of milk and Vincent had finished eating from them. He was giggling on her shoulder, and Ciel kissed his son and his wife. There was enough love in his heart for both of them. The entanglements of the past seemed to almost be shed at the birth of his child, his bond with Lizzie running deeper in the moment his son's scream of life had pierced the air. Now, celebrating two years of marriage, the Earl and Lady were hosting a ball. And they had invited everyone - even the questionable as Lizzie had called the Undertaker.

"Ciel," Lizzie moaned as he kissed down her neck and on to the bare shoulder. Vincent babbled and spat up on the other. "The baby."

"Seems to not mind his father lavishing his mother."

"Ciel," she said, a bit more forcefully. "Let me put him down."

And he let her go, watching as her dress clung to her hips, her waist, and moved up to her back. He waited to have her walk back towards her, ready to drink her in, take her body, make love to her. Their child was six months and he and Lizzie had slowly moved back to a healthy bedding once more. But it was their anniversary, and he wished to be entangled in her arms and deep in her body even more so. He shook his head; since when did he wish nothing more than the carnal delights of his wife? There was a time he wished not be left alone, taking his own needs, longingly wishing for another in his bed, but those were misplaced feelings of a boy who admired his savior, not loved the one who grew up and stood beside him, the good days and the bad.

"My love?" Lizzie asked, placing a hand on his cheek. "You're crying."

"Am I?" He wiped it away and turned to face her. "But now I am happy to see you once more."

"You are a lover deep in that heart of yours," she said, leaning into him and kissing him. "You only put on airs of indifference."

He nodded into her hand. He had closed down a competitor with a stroke of a pen. Took to the seedy parts of London with his butler clad in black and harsh words flowing for those who dared to step over their boundaries. He was a cruel man. But loved his wife, his baby, his family. A duel nature that many times Sebastian had also mentioned.

"I wish to love you," he whispered, even as he pulled at her corset stays and swept her curly blonde hair back over her shoulder. "I wish to lay in bed and have my arms around your fine flesh and celebrate how far we have come. How far I have healed."

"Ciel," she whispered, longing dripping from his name, even as her fingers skirted his pants and unsnapped them. "We would be late."

"It is 2 in the afternoon. The ball is at 7. Your parents can wait."

"Darling," she moaned as his fingers unsnapped her corset and undid the skirts and pulled the chemise away from her breasts. "A few hours maybe…"

Victory flashed in Ciel's eyes. He was used to getting what he wanted, and bedding his lover and wife was no different. He would manipulate her into undressing in the hall if he had to. And had. A few months into her pregnancy, he had dragged her into an unused hall - there were many to choose from - and lit the lone gas light and had pushed her against the wall, taking her like he was a man in need and she a common woman. She had even snaked her fingers into his hair and breathed that she would have fucked him for a simple kiss, not for merely two pence. And now, Ciel smiled as he undid his under dressings, and flung them across the room, looking at his naked wife, framed in the window, the afternoon sun silhouetting her curves, he would manipulate her to be taken on the wide window seat. However she was already smiling wickedly and curling her fingers for him to come forward, the same delightful thought in her mind.

"My dear, a bold move," he whispered, swinging his leg over hers as she stretched them wider. "In the sun and with such fair skin."

"I'm hoping my lover will be able to block the sun from my delicate skin. His skin on mine is all I wish to have."

He kissed her deep and rough. "Yes, mistress."

He slid his hands into her hair and pulled a pillow down so she could rest her head on it. She sighed and he placed her legs on either side of his body and jerked himself erect, hard, and ready. Her breasts were quivering as she breathed his name as he slid into her. They had indeed enjoyed their passion filled nights, no longer a duty to either one. Ciel longed to have his cock inside her and Lizzie felt like she was whole when he was naked next to her, his hands on her body, taking her flesh and rubbing her into the roaring fire that lead to their amazing couplings.

"Oh gods," she sighed and she moved her hands up his arms, locking her legs around his and her hands roaming his back. The scar of the mysterious torturers. The lines deep from lashings. The brand he hated and longed to forget, the one her hand covered as if she could take it away.

Their steady rhythm was the indicator of the luxurious time they could afford to give to the act of making love. And as they gazed into each others eyes, nothing seemed to matter. The sunlight danced off the bare body of her husband, touching Lizzie's breasts and shoulder as he moved, rocked, hitting her spots deep below.

"Lizzie," he sighed as he leaned down and kissed her. "My beautiful bride."

They made love slowly, taking each others skin into their body as if it were their own, and as they climaxed, they kissed, the steady feelings once more longing to stay even as they faded and built once more. Ciel had discovered he was a good lover, and Lizzie's body was made for his cock, for his hands, for his mouth. And soon she was leaning into the window, her breasts mashed against the glass, his lover displayed even as he sawed back into her body. His hands rested on her hips and he pulled her away from the window, back to his chest and thrusted up, urgent and demanding for her release.

"Lizzie…. Come for me."

She moaned and shuttered, his hands over her breasts and stomach, sliding down to where they were joined. Her hands soon joining his, lacing their fingers even as she turned her neck and found his mouth. There was nothing better than being spread for her lover. Being spread like she had been when they made Vincent. Being spread like they needed this one act like it was life itself.

"Ciel," she whispered as he slammed back into her, his cock pumping the life giving cum they both desired to have deep inside her. "I love fucking you."

"Mmm… you better," he growled as he finished and smiled as she too was coming down from her mutual release. "I will be demanding this again tonight."

"I will be willingly taken for your pleasure, m'lord."

"I love you m'lady."

They lay in a tangle of limbs and slow kisses until Vincent's cries caused them to get up, and Ciel watched as his childhood playmate, and now adult bed mate walked naked across their bedroom, slipping into the nursery.

"When my time comes, I will have given you a big family, I hope."


	24. Chapter 24

Mey-Rin was once more down the stairs and picking up Glorey even as her wails began.

"Shh.. Glory, your brother is asleep. Finally," she added as she scooped her up and rushed out the cottage and halfway down the lane to the Manor before she even realized it. She stopped and held her daughter to her chest. "Oh my darling, I wish you could talk and tell me what happened."

But Glory was only a year and half, and she was still crying. Mey-Rin looked at her face and saw a small bump on her cheek. She must have been once more teetering on her own and crashed into something. Sebastian had removed all the sharp objects and had made sure there were soft spots for their newly almost independently mobile daughter to not hurt herself on.

"Your father needs to hurry home," she whispered as her daughter's cries calmed down into whimpers. Glorey grabbed for her hair and tugged, a frown on her lips. Almost as if she too wished Sebastian was home. "Another day and he will be back. The young master and he are on the Queen's bidding. London is so far when he isn't able to come back at night."

She carried her first born back into the house. She listened to the quiet breaths of her baby boy, Lucian. A name she had not picked and Sebastian had said would fit the child whose dark soul was seen even to her. Of course she also heard him when he was in her womb, which had already set her and Sebastian on the path of gathering as many of their allies as possible. Of course the young master had been in obvious fear when they told him. But now, as she settled on the couch, Glorey slowly also falling asleep, life had settled into a routine and the families were balancing.

Robin was spending time away at her father's cottage, his failing health having her worried that he would not be around much longer, and Mey-Rin had pulled back when she went to visit, the smell of death and a Reaper passing by the house all indicators that his time was indeed short. Bard split his time between the Manor and being with his wife. Cassie's lessons were on hold.

Lizzie was learning how to manage a eight month old child who was teething and cried all night. She walked up and down the halls, sometimes with Mey-Rin and Lucian, other times on her own or next to Ciel. Sebastian would smile when he talked about the couple, and how amazing their love had grown from a simple duty to genuine love.

And they themselves had grown closer. No longer did she fear not wearing her glasses, seeing too much, or the staff watching their children. Mey-Rin worked as the Head Maid and waited on Lizzie all in the same effortless manor Sebastian was the Head Butler and the Earl's personal butler as well. The four had dined numerous times, their children now similar in age, and they had more to talk about. But there were shadows that lurked and made her uneasy even as she looked around at the smiling faces. She and Sebastian would watch them fade, their love and lives become mere parts of a forgotten history, even as her own daughter would one day.

The sleeping child shifted and Mey-Rin focused on the current feelings and moments. She looked down and smiled at the jet black haired beauty. So much like her father. And Lucian, well, he had her eyes and dark brown hair. Sebastian had held him as he named him and smiled at Mey-Rin, still flushed in after-brith glow.

"A lighter mix of us," he had laughed. "But I feel that power in him, like his mother."

She had settled into his shoulder as he sat beside her, Glorey now in her lap, looking at her brother and smiling. "A powerful force? I think that's all you, my darling," she had countered.

Their cottage was watched and had been defended. Their lives were balanced and delicately so.

A knock on the door made her look up and shift. She smiled; it wasn't often the Undertaker called.

"I do hate to disturb you," the ex-Reaper said. He smiled a bit and they walked into the small garden Sebastian had carefully carved a bench of stone and they sat on it now. "But I wanted to see how you are adjusting to a purely dark soul in your newborn. I have heard the fallen are a bit more cautious now when they are moving through the dimensions."

"Because of a baby?"

"Because of his family. You and Sebastian are powerful, the first successful human and demon soul, the first halfling, and then to give her demon half away to save you. Well, you particularly are of interest."

Mey-Rin ducked her head. "I'm simply a maid."

"Whose soul is bound to a demon and half demonic."

"But I am still half human, and a maid. The fact I have two children makes me like many others as well. Is it really my demon half and a dark souled baby that has them scared?"

"It's what you both mean. Demons could mate with humans for centuries, the rare offspring, cut down as soon as the fallen were able. No one wanted to protect the children, not even the parents. So the fact you both have allies, and are willing to fight for your children also places a uniqueness on your situation."

Mey-Rin stared at the Undertaker and looked at the cottage behind him. "I can't imagine anyone not wanting to fight for something so rare."

"Demons have no feelings, normally. They have missions and souls, seals and contracts. You know I have known Sebastian for a long time, before the Earl called him."

She nodded. Again she knew more about his past then even perhaps the Earl. She smiled; married to a Demon, being changed by him and their awakening to their feelings about the same time, had given her many disturbing discussions about what it was like to be a Demon. She looked away. She had seen him loose his form early on in their sudden shift into a romantic setting.

"And he isn't the same as he was before he took on the Earl," she said softly. "He has told me the many lonely nights he took his fill of souls. How he wondered and did what had to, to survive, to keep the fallen away from him as he sorted his new purpose out. I sometimes wish I had been there for him. He is as broken as us in some ways."

"Ah love," the Undertaker sighed and lifted her chin with his long nails. "But the wait for him was just a blink. You and he will discover eternity is nothing when it's stretched as far as the sun is from the Earth and beyond the stars we can see. Immortality is pleasant when you have someone to share it with."

"And you, will you ever have someone to share it with?"

The Undertaker laughed. "As long as there are fallen and Death I will continue to have my fill of strangers who will share my little world with me. It's dark, but not lonely."

They sat in silence, each tuning into different things around them. Mey-Rin sighed and watched the bees fly around a flower. It was a simple thing, finding the sweetness, attacking it, draining it, bringing it back to share. And as it flew off she heard her two children's peaceful breaths. She had found the sweetest part of life with her Demon Butler. She would defend it until the end. And Sebastian was always bringing them back to the things that mattered.

Love. Humanity. Life.

Souls that beat in time with one another.

Defending those loved ones.

And never letting go.


	25. Chapter 25

Sebastian came into the house as the Undertaker was finishing looking at Lucian. The two shared the look of two who had seen much more than what they were hoping not to face, and still found the road ahead a very worthy one to travel.

"He is a blackened soul. The depths of Hell, all the good things a demon would want in a demon child," the ex-Reaper said. A laugh was in his eyes as he added, "And still a trace of human soul."

"Mey-Rin is strong."

"Her soul and heart are, yes. And now, after your single-mindedness and determination, so is her body. For eternity. To find such a mate," he added now looking back at Lucian as he was playing with the long sleeve of the Undertaker. "A halfling he is not, but one who is dark and will need much guidance to become as balanced as his father, well," he glanced at the Demon. "Only you and your beloved can do that."

"And the possibility of Glorey being taken?"

"Always present, my friend. The back doors are being sealed by those who are already here on the top, and wish to remain so. It's a good life being independent."

Sebastian did not miss the meaning, nor did he wish to respond. His focus was on his young master, back at the Manor, his wife and daughter, both below, and the others, the fallen of Hell and Heaven, that lurked just beyond his territory walls. The Undertaker had been granted passage by all in exchange for information. They paid with a soul, a song, or a joke, for the information, hoping that the person who was giving it to them was not playing them. Of course none really trusted the ex-Reaper.

"There is already a bind around Glorey and Lucian," Sebastian said as they walked down the lane toward the side entrance. "Mey-Rin also has felt it. When he cries, she seems to know why."

"And Mey-Rin's talking to him? Like when he was still in the womb?"

"Hasn't happened since. The fallen were inside our walls when that happened and I do not abide for that. I did what I had to do for them to understand this is mine."

The Undertaker merely raised an eyebrow. He could see the curls of demonic power, and had felt the low rumble of the Demon that was so perfect in all he did. Including being a demon. The Undertaker smiled a bit, well, not quiet the perfect demon. He did take a human as his life mate, and selfishly consumed her himself so they would be bound, no interference. And had challenged his fallen Demons to the task by giving the world two children. Two who were in danger, and were dangerous. Even Glorey, with a pure human soul, was not to be underestimated. The two parted and the Undertaker once more took to his own path, and his own thoughts of the Michaelis'.

Glorey's soul was bartered and given to the Head Demon himself, in exchange that the small family would not be touched. Then Mey-Rin, a human whose soul was torn and stitched with a demonic one, had conceived again. He giggled; he was sure they enjoyed the coupling as much as they did the first time. And Lucian was a human, with a demon soul, unlike Sebastian, who was a Demon, with a human-like heart, and perhaps soul. A non-perfect arrangement for a perfect way to stay with his human companions. And the marks! The contracts! The Undertaker now roared with laughter. They were not going to be needed to sustain the fallen - or at least they would not be easily delivered now. He suspected that the Earl Phantomhive's soul was safe, in Sebastian's care, and would remain so for a long time. Perhaps until a natural death. He smiled; a coffin built for an old Earl was much more appealing than a tiny one for the small child he had once met with the hungry demon by his side.

Hungry. He mused at this. Sebastian didn't seem hungry for a soul anymore. Perhaps the power of love was really what he needed to sustain himself now. An ascending, redeeming Demon? But the fallen would never take him, and neither Sebastian nor Mey-Rin would care as they continued to exist with their family. They had one another, and many children if Lucian was proof.

"Powerful children that make the protection of the In between so much easier," he whispered. "The time has come for the halflings to come back and rule the balance."


	26. Chapter 26

Bard stroked his wife's back as they stood in front of the gravestone for her father. Cassie was sitting on the ground, her own grief making her untouchable. He looked at her, now 14 and almost on the verge of being a woman soon. So much had happened since they had come to the Manor to ask for permission to graze their sheep on the Earl's back pastures, up against his Manor lands. He had found love, had found acceptance, and had found a reason to get up and do his very best each day. Not that he didn't before, but now, now his arms were filled with the love he had sought so anxiously in others.

"Can we go home?" Robin whispered as she looked up. He smiled and nodded, kissing her hair as she turned and looked down at their daughter. Her child from a marriage that she was unhappy in. "Cassie, we need to go home."

"No… we can't leave Grandpa."

"He will not be alone, my child," another voice said, walking towards them. Bard tried not shutter as the Undertaker walked towards them. "I will stay until all is well with him."

Cassie seemed to accept the odd statement and nodded finally and walked over to her mother who was standing beside the tombstone. "I'll be back soon to water the flowers," Cassie said softly. Even Bard was now brushing tears from his cheeks.

Bard gathered his family and walked down the slopping hill, curving to meet the small dirt lane, and helped his two ladies into the carriage. He glanced up at the top of the hill, the Undertaker nodding a bit, and Bard climbed in, and took off for the Phantomhive Manor. Robin's father had died peacefully, surrounded by his daughter and granddaughter. Bard had taken Cassie out to the woods and had let his wife morn her father's passing, something he vaguely remembered doing when he was young. Cassie had picked flowers, cried and beat the trees with a stick, and finally had collided with Bard in a sobbing hug. They had contacted the Undertaker and the Phantomhive Manor and all the residences had attended the small funeral, supporting their family members in their time of grief.

Bard opened the side door and Cassie and Robin walked into the servant area of the Manor, finding Sebastian and Tanaka waiting, taking the coats of the two and placing them on the coat rack in the hallway. Bard nodded a silent thanks and Tanaka gave him a small smile. Sebastian had already slipped away into the kitchen as Bard came and sat beside his wife and daughter in the dinning area.

"We have the beds made, and fresh blankets as well," Mey-Rin said, bringing in a plate of chicken. Sebastian followed with a mound of mashed potatoes and vegetables. Finny poured glasses of water and the staff suddenly was silently serving Bard, Robin and Cassie as if they were the masters of the house.

Bard watched as the food was plated, slowly consumed and then simply sat there. The three of them were not in the mood to wonder off, and Bard could hear the others in the kitchen, preparing more food and talking in low tones. He sighed and shifted, moved as in a dream from his seat and into the kitchen, where the three others seemed to stop in their tracks and Tanaka sipped his tea, regarding no one.

"Mey-Rin, Finny, Mister Sebastian," he said, a formal tone taking over. "Thank you, again. This past few months have been hard on all of us - births and deaths. The… creatures that are outside our gates," he added in a low voice. "They no longer come for only the Master, do they?"

Sebastian gave the American a small smile. "No, they come for all of us - for all our happiness and sadness. They believe one day our pain will consume us, they can't fathom how much love is in this house and how we have become the family we each need and crave."

Bard was silent as he looked at Sebastian and seemed to see him as an equal, as a friend, not as the Head Butler and lover, husband, the father of her children, to Mey-Rin - a woman he still stared at with pain and regret, longing and wanting. He nodded and looked at them before turning and looking at his own family, his own wife, and daughter. "We didn't know how much we needed a family until they were almost taken away."

A hand landed on his shoulder and he turned as Finny laid his head on his shoulder and smiled, tears in his eyes. "But we are strong and we will fight. For the Master and each other."

"Yes, for the Master and each other," Bard said finally, hugging the young man back and glancing around again. "Whatever they are, they don't know who we are."

"We are the Servants of the Phantomhive Manor," Mey-Rin said, stepping forward and joining the men in their hug. "Come what may, we will defend."

"Til the end," Bard finished in a horse whisper, looking down at her and back at Finny. He glanced up and met the gaze of Sebastian. "Til the end."


	27. Chapter 27

Mey-Rin settled on the bed and undid her shoes and sighed. It had been a long day of tending to her two, and the master's child as well. Sebastian and the master were out on a mission, somewhere north, a bit of a drive away, and would be gone for two more days. She groaned, two, very, long days. She had opted to come back to the cottage instead of staying with Lizzie. Her children were asleep, even Lucian was asleep, and she robbed her feet as they pounded lightly in time with her heart. She closed her eyes and leaned back on the pillows, working her socks off one leg at a time, wishing to be rolling into the arms of her lover, her husband, her full demon to her half. She pulled his pillow close and breathed in the lavender and sulphur mix that was him.

"Why do you have to be gone so long?" she muttered as she pulled the pillow to her chest. Sleep consumed her soon and she entered a dreamless state, her body simply worn from running after a toddler and a child who was crawling quickly.

A crash woke her with a start. She swung her legs off the bed, took up her rifle she hid under the bed, and dashed into the bedroom Glorey and Lucian shared for now. She looked them over and heard another crash from outside the house. She swiftly turned and bounded down the stairs. She peered out the window and saw a demon and an angel fighting, the talons and sword unmistakable as they slashed into each other. The angel delivered another swing of the sword and it connected with the demon, the source of the cashing sound. She looked at the rifle in her hand and bit her lip. If Sebastian was there, he would have raced out and ripped the fallen to pieces. She inched the door open and stuck her head outside.

"Mrs. Michaelis," the demon hissed as he spotted her. Mey-Rin opened the door and loaded her gun. "A sight which I would feast on happily," it spat. The angel behind him slammed his sword down into the demon's back and there was a rattling that she was sure rocked the Manor as well.

"Please, keep it down. My children, they are finally asleep," Mey-Rin said, glancing at the closed door. Fuck, she though, every time Sebastian is gone they slip through and are becoming bolder. "What do you want?"

"Your body. On mine. Oh my cock, so deliciously waiting for your warm body, to be treated like the finest wine, drunk and enjoyed. As I feed my cock into you and make you deliver my babies," the demon hissed, his head now thrown back, the angel's blade at its throat.

Mey-Rin sighed and didn't have to scope the demon before she pulled the trigger and with the help of the angel, put it down, watching the black blood swirl on the ground, seeping into it and leaving her and the angel alone in her front garden.

"Thank you," she said after a moment, meeting the fiery eyes of the other fallen. He simply swept his eyes up and down her, and nodded. His wide wings spread and he took to the sky, making Mey-Rin sigh for the time when Sebastian and she were in especially in tune and making intense love, had lost his physical body, like he had when she had touched him the first time. She sighed and turned, slipping back into the house. Their house cats meowed softly and she scratched a few as she made her way into the kitchen. She was wide awake now; may as well make food for the three who ate.

There was a small comfort in the way the dough in her hands was easily molded into the bread pan, and how the other batch was stiffer and kept its shape as she twisted it and cut into it, filling it with nuts and berries. She was able to pound her firsts into it, and it yielded to her. Wiping her hand across her face, she glanced at the clock and gave a small snort. 2:14 in the morning - no wonder she was tired. She checked the oven and the timer. It would go off in 38 minutes. Settling into the nearby rocking chair she had rocked both Glorey and Lucian to sleep in, she soon was rocking herself into a sleep as well.Mey-Rin settled on the bed and undid her shoes and sighed. It had been a long day of tending to her two, and the master's child as well. Sebastian and the master were out on a mission, somewhere north, a bit of a drive away, and would be gone for two more days. She groaned, two, very, long days. She had opted to come back to the cottage instead of staying with Lizzie. Her children were asleep, even Lucian was asleep, and she robbed her feet as they pounded lightly in time with her heart. She closed her eyes and leaned back on the pillows, working her socks off one leg at a time, wishing to be rolling into the arms of her lover, her husband, her full demon to her half. She pulled his pillow close and breathed in the lavender and sulphur mix that was him.

"Why do you have to be gone so long?" she muttered as she pulled the pillow to her chest. Sleep consumed her soon and she entered a dreamless state, her body simply worn from running after a toddler and a child who was crawling quickly.

A crash woke her with a start. She swung her legs off the bed, took up her rifle she hid under the bed, and dashed into the bedroom Glorey and Lucian shared for now. She looked them over and heard another crash from outside the house. She swiftly turned and bounded down the stairs. She peered out the window and saw a demon and an angel fighting, the talons and sword unmistakable as they slashed into each other. The angel delivered another swing of the sword and it connected with the demon, the source of the cashing sound. She looked at the rifle in her hand and bit her lip. If Sebastian was there, he would have raced out and ripped the fallen to pieces. She inched the door open and stuck her head outside.

"Mrs. Michaelis," the demon hissed as he spotted her. Mey-Rin opened the door and loaded her gun. "A sight which I would feast on happily," it spat. The angel behind him slammed his sword down into the demon's back and there was a rattling that she was sure rocked the Manor as well.

"Please, keep it down. My children, they are finally asleep," Mey-Rin said, glancing at the closed door. Fuck, she though, every time Sebastian is gone they slip through and are becoming bolder. "What do you want?"

"Your body. On mine. Oh my cock, so deliciously waiting for your warm body, to be treated like the finest wine, drunk and enjoyed. As I feed my cock into you and make you deliver my babies," the demon hissed, his head now thrown back, the angel's blade at its throat.

Mey-Rin sighed and didn't have to scope the demon before she pulled the trigger and with the help of the angel, put it down, watching the black blood swirl on the ground, seeping into it and leaving her and the angel alone in her front garden.

"Thank you," she said after a moment, meeting the fiery eyes of the other fallen. He simply swept his eyes up and down her, and nodded. His wide wings spread and he took to the sky, making Mey-Rin sigh for the time when Sebastian and she were in especially in tune and making intense love, had lost his physical body, like he had when she had touched him the first time. She sighed and turned, slipping back into the house. Their house cats meowed softly and she scratched a few as she made her way into the kitchen. She was wide awake now; may as well make food for the three who ate.

There was a small comfort in the way the dough in her hands was easily molded into the bread pan, and how the other batch was stiffer and kept its shape as she twisted it and cut into it, filling it with nuts and berries. She was able to pound her firsts into it, and it yielded to her. Wiping her hand across her face, she glanced at the clock and gave a small snort. 2:14 in the morning - no wonder she was tired. She checked the oven and the timer. It would go off in 38 minutes. Settling into the nearby rocking chair she had rocked both Glorey and Lucian to sleep in, she soon was rocking herself into a sleep as well.


	28. Chapter 28

"Demons breached the wall?" Sebastian hissed. He slammed his fist on the master's desk and Ciel raised an eyebrow at Mey-Rin. She bit her lip; he had been almost uncontrollable when she told him upon their return. "This is… that is… " his anger caused him to break apart a bit and Ciel moved behind the chair more, as if it would protect him.

"Dear," Mey-Rin said, sliding a hand on his back, intimately, like a lover, calming her jealous husband. "Please, do come back."

He wiped around and his bright eyes settled on hers. He cupped her face and slowly, whisp by whisp, settled back down into the form of Sebastian Michaelis that each member of the Phantomhive household and those who knew the demon, could recognize.

"My apologies. My Lord, my mistress," he said, swiftly bowing at each of them. "I… this is not working. A life like this is not a life," he finally said. He turned and looked at Ciel. "You deserve to be protected, as I swore I would, and you," he said, turning toward his wife, and softening both his gaze and voice, "deserve to be protected, as I swore I would, as well."

"And we swore to protect the Manor together," Mey-Rin said, cupping the Butler's face as well. "Which means all of us - demon, half-demon, human. Our babies are not ready to loose their parents to whatever is lurking beyond our gates, nor do they need to be afraid once they are older. We should be able to go where we want - this is our home." Mey-Rin felt herself rise and understood the emotions her husband had exhibited. She closed her eyes and sighed. "What will it take for them to leave?"

"No… no…" Ciel said, as if he was finally figuring out what the plan was. "Mey-Rin, you and your children have given too much. Sebastian, you are my sword and shield, and," he paused and undid his patch and blinked, staring at Sebastian, "this is an order: Cut down our enemies swiftly -"

"My lord if I can interrupt and point out something important."

Ciel clamped his mouth and looked at his butler as if Sebastian had asked him to eat a salad and enjoy it. "What the hell, Sebastian?"

"If you are going to order me to cut down our enemies swiftly so we can once more enjoy peace, I am going to have to tell you this request is something I have striven to fulfill. And I am confident you are wishing to remain alive as I go about doing that."

Ciel looked at him and down at the patch that was in his hands. "I can't leave my wife and child anymore then you," he said softly. "Why does life have to be so difficult?"

"Because we make it so sometimes, and other times it is done to us," Mey-Rin said finally answering the question. "And do I understand that the fulfillment of that order - your contract - would mean Sebastian gets your soul? You... you die?"

Ciel lifted his head and nodded, smiling. "A wish I had a very long time ago. And I even had the opportunity to take back that very contract, but then I would not have been able to order the demon around."

Mey-Rin smiled and looked at her husband and straightened his jacket a little. "Oh, I doubt that. The demon seems pretty loyal, even without contracts."

"Yes… well. I declined and it is still the same. Speaking of, do you not have work to do?"

Mey-Rin and Sebastian slipped out of the study and Mey-Rin pulled him by his jacket into the kissing alcove by the stairs. "My love?"

"Yes?"

"I missed you," she breathed as they kissed deeply again.

"As did I, you," he said back. He pulled back and slowly his devious grin was gracing his lips. "Ah… that kind of missing me as well?"

"Our bed upstairs has not been visited in a while," she muttered as she kissed his chin. "And those toys we used to play with don't get any use when they are there, and we are not."

"Wise words," he sighed and looked her up and down. "Shall I carry you or shall we enter our sanctuary of sin together?"

"We are married, not much sin in what we are about to do," she said, intertwining her fingers with his. "Not anymore," she added as she kissed his hand.

"Mmm… but most would condemn us if they knew how we enjoyed our time in that particular room."

"You want me to take you right on the stairs?"

"It lacks the glorious surroundings that become your beautiful body."

"So it's not the perfect place for me to lift my skirts and pull your cock out and slide all over your body?"

Sebastian's breathing hitched at the vision and scooped up his bride and was soon laying her on the fluffy comforter and springy mattress. "This is better."

"Shackle me and pound your heavy cock in me - now that would be perfection," she said. She smiled sweetly as his eyes flashed and she knew she was getting him worked up. "I want our lives back - the one where we boldly sought to get me pregnant and we fucked each night - all night long sometimes. I want your hands on my breasts, on my back, in my hair, and on my legs as we boldly fuck and boldly chase the fallen away - away from us. Away from the master. Away from our family."

And he swiftly covered her mouth with his hand, his cock pushing into her already slick with need and he sank, sank, sank, and looked down at his maid, his wife, at the mother of his children. He smiled and took his hand away and placed it on the chains that held her arms above her, unneeded to keep her still, but welcomed because that was how they began their sexual pursuit. No, he remind himself. No, he had slipped into her room and she had caught him. Had told him to stay, and he did, tasting her sex, her blooming flower at that time. He breathed in deeply the scent of their lovemaking and smiled down on his obsession, even now, three years into unlocking his real emotions, letting his lusty maid draw them out even as she drew his cock boldly out and had sucked him in their masters' bedroom.

"My love," he breathed as he bent and kissed Mey-Rin soundly.

She arched her back, bucking into him as he stroked into her faster. "My beloved."

He undid the shackles and they clung to each other, slamming into the bed, into each other, soundly taking and giving, as their immortal bodies soon flew faster until they stilled, their silent cries of mutual satisfaction being the only thing the fallen who sought to destroy them, heard.


	29. Chapter 29

Lizzy spread her fingers on Ciel's head and sighed. He had laid her down on the floor, the lush carpet and soft blankets, their cushion as they made love. They had stared at one another as they came and then came down. And then, slowly, as if making up his mind long ago to execute this very act, Ciel had knelt and kissed down her body, where he now was lapping her sex, holding her legs apart, sucking her wetness out as she pushed him deeper, and came again.

"Oh… fuck… oh fuck…" Lizzie gasped. She bit her lip and thursted her hips into her lovers mouth and felt for a moment, like the women who sold their bodies for money, only she did so for the pleasure. She had money, and she had a baby, and she and Ciel were working on another one, just as she was sure her friend and maid, Mey-Rin, was. Lizzie sighed as she used the common language so freely when she was being bedded by her husband. Of course the Earl had also his favorite words when he climaxed as well.

Ciel pulled back and smiled at her. "I feel like I was drinking the nectar of the gods. Or the goddesses." He sighed and once more laid beside her. She looked down at his cock and smiled.

"I wish to have yours," she said, wrapping her hands around his proud member. "I love you."

"I love you too," he sighed as her mouth slid over his sensitive cock. They had been actively trying to have another baby for two months since Vincent was now a year old. He pushed his fingers through the golden locks of his lover and wife, and smiled as she raised her green eyes and slipped him deeper into her mouth. "Jesus, that's beautiful," he whispered.

Lizzie bobbed faster, drawing her nails down and up his cock, and then reaching up and doing the same to his taunt stomach muscles. He was a man, not a boy, and he sighed as his lover claimed him so boldly as such.

"Oh… I'm cumming, Lizzie!"

She plunged down as he plunged up, and he felt his cock explode, deeper, longer, and with more intention then he had in a while. She had taken him deeper into her mouth then they had done so in a long time. He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling as her mouth once more worked to milk out his seed. The seed that would next be driven into her body, with long and hard thrusts, the intention of making his partner full of a child, again.

The stars seemed to have finished exploding in each other's minds and Lizzie pulled the blanket edges around her and her love as she settled down back in his arms, the two kissing slowly and sighing. "That was most likely the best sex we have made in a while. Of course," she added as she looked at her husband, "you have been gone for a week, so I had to make up for you not being able to satisfy me. Or me you," she finished with a kiss.

"I'm sorry," he said, again. "Business… well business has to be kept in line."

"Being an Earl is hard work, sometimes," she sighed. "I just want to make our sanctuary that - a place you feel like you are whoever you are, not the Earl Phantomhive, hard and demanding. Well," she pushed up with an am and smiled and licked her lips. "Not hard and demanding on those business people. Hard and demanding on me. I'll take every ounce of it."

"Lizzie," he breathed and kissed her. "Can we lay in the bed? The hard floor is nice, but I want to wrap you up in comfort. You deserve it." He kissed her forehead as they moved to sit up and then help one another stand. Ciel drank in the naked body of his wife and lover. Vincent's birth had made changes to her body, and her once girlish features had been pushed out to become more womanly. Her hips swelled more, her breasts bigger, her curves a little fleshy. He pulled her close and kissed her, his hands roaming around her back as he tried to drink in all her kisses. "I want nothing more then to have a family of beautiful children with you. I was so selfish when I was a child, when I wanted to bring my parents murderers to justice. To find my kidnappers and kill them. I want to find them and make them pay, but I want you too."

"Ciel, you are not going anywhere. Not while I am clinging to you."

Ciel slipped under the warm blankets and held the soft body of his lover and watched as she fell asleep soon after. His own eyes blinked heavy with needed sleep, but he tried to fight it. He kissed Lizzie's temple as he sighed.

"Promise me, Sebastian, our battles don't end us too soon."

He closed his eyes finally, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt the eternal promise that rang through the subtle words that always answered back.

_"Yes, my lord."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sniffle*... oh dear me... my eyes! they are all washed with tears... and now we end our second installment. So happy to have had this as a second arc. And thus, my dears who have followed me thus far, I conclude this love story between a Maid and a Butler, some crazy Phantomhive staff, and the Earl and Lizzie. :) It was so much fun to share this with you!


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